Wandering Equestria
by Blazing Winds
Summary: Creation is strange... We gain a plentiful amount of new creatures often. What happens when a new species is introduced? What mayhem can ensue? And, what can they do?
1. Equestria will never be the same

"Princess! News for you! It's about the Crystal Empire!"

The voice echoed against the stone walls, reaching the ears of the one it pertained to. Breathing heavily, and yet kneeling before her, the messenger humbly bestowed a letter with his magic. From one magical grasp to another, the Sun Princess mutely took and opened the letter, then read the scroll tucked inside.

The room, being as spacious as it was, held the colors of day, and of night. Where sat Celestia, beheld a orange glow and tapestry hanging from the ceiling above. Merely two feet from her, was the night, being a dark lavender, the same, holding a more dark tapestry.

All guards stood at attention, and while doing so, watched in silence as the snowy white goddess set the letter aside, as she did this, it seemed as if the sun behind the windows grew dim.

One of the guards spoke, "Is… Something the matter, Princess?"

Celestia shook her head mutely and watched the throne room doors in sorrow,

"Yes Captain… Prepare yourself."

The captain faltered, his sword waning in his grasp for a fleeting second, "For, what?"

Suddenly, the large oak doors leading into the throne room were thrown open, slamming against the walls they were hinged upon, the guards behind the doors being thrown into the walls as well.

A midnight blue Alicorn stormed into the room with her wings flared, her eyes sparked with anger. "SISTER!"

Her voice boomed throughout the large room, the windows rattling lightly at the purely large volume.

The grief was shown within Celestia's gaze, "Luna. I was beginning to wonder where you had been. What must the matter be?"

"DO NOT PLAY COY WITH US! THOU HAST DISRESPECTED US AND MINE ROLE! THE SUBJECTS FAVOR THINE DAY OVER MINE NIGHT, SHUNNING IT AWAY WITH SLEEP!" Luna cried out angrily, her eyes now showing a mixture of truly negative emotion.

Celestia eyed Luna with a sparked concern. This wasn't the way Luna had been acting before, normally subtle, but now…

"Luna, you mustn't be enthralled over such actions. The nature of what is happening will pass. But your anger shan't. We say it only once sister, Let. It. Go."

"WE SHALT NOT 'LET IT GO'! WE ARE TIRED OF BEING SHUNNED BY ALL! WE DESERVE RECOGNITION!" She continued to cry out, stamping her front right hoof on the ground in rage.

Celestia watched in a still coldness, "And yet you wish for respect, by throwing such tantrums in front of our subjects."

Luna's horn flashed to life with her navy blue glow, instantly sending forth a powerful blast of pure magic.

The wave was made of pure shadow, and with little to no warning, Celestia was off balanced and engulfed in the blue flash. She was knocked back into her throne, cracking the stone and breaking the chest plate and crown the Alicorn wore.

Gritting her teeth and standing back up, Celestia shook off the broken pieces, her fur now covered in soot, "Is this the path you are now driven towards, sister?"

Luna said nothing more as she fired off two more blasts of her magic, simply pushing the guards away that tried to subdue her.

Seeing this, Celestia's horn engulfed in a yellow glow, her existence winking in and out of the throne room. She appeared behind Luna, only her and the older sister in the room. "Please, hear me out sister. It needn't be this way."

Upon hearing her sister behind her, Luna whirled around and stamped her hooves, causing multiple lightning strikes, heavily damaging the wall between the two thrones as the lightning moved straight for Celestia.

Nimbly dodging, Celestia tried to move towards her sister, but by then, It was too late... "THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE PRINCESS IN EQUESTRIA!.." Luna began, pacing around so that she was standing between both thrones. Celestia watched in a growing horror as the remnants of what were her sister fleeted away,

"AND THAT PRINCESS," Celestia moved towards her sister,

"LUNA!"

Luna slammed both her front hooves onto the ground again, this time casting pure darkness all around the room, leaving welts and cracks in its wake, even shattering a window above the Night Goddess,

"WILL BE ME!"

Her horn glowed brightly as she began raising the moon, moving it in front of the sun, causing a solar eclipse. The instant darkness flooded the afternoon sky, creeping into the throne room even, making inky black waves in its wake.

With the moon raised in such a position, Luna was soon in control. She suddenly floated off the ground as her own shadows created a sphere around her body, completely engulfing her inside. They slowly morphed into an orange glow as they spun faster and faster. Then, it exploded outwards, revealing such a dark blue Alicorn mare that she appeared black. Her teeth were wickedly sharp and her pupils were slits.

Celestia looked her form over, once, twice, even more so when what she had believed to be her sister, laughed at what was happening. Outside, her precious sun was devoured, conquered by Luna's moon. And because of so, Celestia felt hollow, for a second time in her lifespan, she felt small, helpless to do anything as what would soon be Nightmare Moon descended upon her.

Nightmare Moon gently landed upon the granite floors, her wings flared outwards, revealing her enlarged wingspan and more massive body. Her horn glowed and she gained a wicked smirk. "Well, Sister, your pathetic sun has been defeated. What shall you do now, since we are clearly superior?"

Celestia looked around, the destruction finally reaching her ears, "Clearly, it seems we may have to move our place of respite." Looking at Luna, Celestia merely flared her wings, "But that will have to wait until after you learn your place. Care for a spar Nightmare Moon?"

Her smirk only grew as she sent one more magic blast out and into the ceiling above her sister, fully intending for any rubble to fall down and crush the Sun Princess. With the trap set in place, Nightmare teleported into the air above the roof.

Eyeing her moves carefully, Celestia pooled her aura around her, shattering any of the rubble that came close. Every rock that was broken, sent shivers up Celestia's spine, draining her magic inch by inch.

Nightmare Moon cackled menacingly and performed a quick spell, causing storm clouds to move into the area creating strong enough winds capable of breaking anything unlucky enough to be caught in its wake.

Strong winds, nothing more. Nothing less. The rocks eroded around the now damp floor, seeping into the cracks and making water rise up. Celestia watched with no more emotion, thoroughly tired of any charades. In the blink of an eye, Celestia cast a yellow bolt of magic to where Nightmare moon hovered.

The nearly black Alicorn's horn glowed brightly for a split second and a shield appeared before her, deflecting the yellow bolt in some random direction, only serving to cause more damage to the castle.

The bolt flew past Celestia and out the open doors, exploding off in the distance. Looking to her side, she took note of a singed part of her mane. Somewhere above, Nightmare Moon cackled again, showing no mercy, nor deprive of what was being done.

With a great flap of her wings, Celestia blew over several rocks in different directions, the flare of her wings being too much for the debris. But nonetheless, the Alicorn had taken flight and, without warning, barreled into the darker princess.

The resulting crash quite literally sparked large amounts of pain for both of the Alicorn's, knocking the breath out of Nightmare Moon and simply causing a temporary pain to Celestia's shoulder.

They collided against a nearby wall, denting it in so much that, through the cracks, the inside of a separate room was clearly shown. For what good it was worth, was none. Not able to shoot off any magic towards her older sister, Nightmare Moon reared her head back, her teeth making a beeline for Celestia's open neck. Her aim was true, and the pain, unbearable. It was like cutting butter with a steak knife, within seconds, the pearly white fur had been stained a bloody crimson.

Celestia ripped away from her foe, quickly balancing herself so that she fired a golden glow towards Nightmares exposed form. It collided with a tenacious thoom, shattering the weakened wall and throwing the alicorn away, leaving Celestia breathless.

Nightmare Moon slowly rose out of the rubble left behind by the shattered wall, her already narrowed, slit pupils narrowing further in anger. "HOW DARE YOU!" She screamed in a fury, sending a wave of shadows right for Celestia.

"Apologies sister," Celestia countered by dodging the blast, "But you know I play dirty."

Nightmare moon regained her composure and simply advanced forward. "I never thought it in your character to do such a thing." She said as she swept a hoof forwards, causing another lightning strike to go for Celestia.

"When the moment is just, I suppose tis right." Celestia marked around herself, another aura dissipating the attack.

Nightmare's magic slowly engulfed the room and she disappeared within the shadows, charging up a powerful spell. "I believe I can do the same." She said with a laugh, the sound seeming to come from every direction.

Celestia looked around her, the shape of her enemy showing everywhere. All around, there was nothing but black. How could she find her sister in this? Better yet, stop her from doing what she planned? It was then that it clicked. Rearing onto her hind legs, Celestia roared, "WHAT HIDES IN THE SHADOW MUST BE CASTED INTO THE LIGHT!"

Panic welled inside the darker Alicorn, her spell was not yet ready! Nightmare Moon released a spell at Celestia, in hopes of keeping her from destroying this cover of shadows.

The blast was huge, in diameter, it was the size of one of the larger ornamental statues in the gardens. But due to her power and orientation, it looked like the dark side of a moon. Although it was bulky, It was casted without hesitation, and thus, moved fairly quickly to Celestia.

Thankfully, Celestia's hooves collided with the ground just in time as the attack crashed into her. What had happened next, resulted in a cataclysmic light. A… Surge of god like powers.

The surge caused the moon-like ball to be pushed away, eventually stopping in the middle, held onto barely by Celestia's magic.

Due to the nature of Nightmare Moon's attack, not being a long lasting attack and simply being a large ball of magic, her attack was slowed to a halt by Celestia's beam, forcing her to back up her spell with a beam of her own. At the same time, both collided, battering into the large ball of magic in the center.

Tendrils of dark and light shot out from the middle of the space both Alicorns were in, blowing back hedges, wall pieces, a few animals here and there, following up by shredding away several statues.

But regardless, from there on, it was purely a power struggle. And regrettably, Nightmare Moon held the higher power, pushing so far as to nearly drain Celestia's magic completely. Seeing this, Nightmare Moon let out a cackle as her sister began to slowly buckle beneath the pressure.

Bruised, battered and covered in soot, Celestia had to think of something… more or less, a game changing plan. The idea spontaneously combusted in her head, She had one way to win this fight, and she knew that if she made no move now, it would all be over.

Celestia cut off her magical beam and teleported back into the castle's throne room. Thus resulting in Luna's magic obliterating the spot Celestia was at mere seconds before.

With what little magic she had left, Celestia summoned a small spell, making the floor split in front of her. After a short moment of watching the ground melt away, the Elements of Harmony floated from the hole and slowly surrounded Celestia's tiring form.

Nightmare Moon sensed the surge of new power merely moments after cutting off her own magic and searching for her sister. She immediately teleported into the Throne Room as well to end this fight before Celestia gained the upper hoof… but she was too late.

In front of her stood her older sibling, eyes alight with white determination. The Elements sparked here an there, the electricity flowing along her coat and to the ground below.

Celestia breathed out, the air becoming still around her being. This was the last resort, the resort of another last resort. A precaution for a moment when Equestria or the throne was in danger. To put in simpler terms, it was never meant to be used because those who were appointed the right to rule served with powers beyond belief.

When the sound of another pair of hoofsteps reached Celestia's ears, the hollow feeling came back, to use these on her sister… what would happen to her? Would Luna be freed? Or… Destroyed? Celestia turned fully, each embodiment of harmony circling her,

"Luna… No… Nightmare Moon, we give you one last chance to forfeit," The elements grew brighter, "You are hereby charged with the accounts of treason, usurping of the throne and mutiny towards Equestria. These crimes, when paid in full, are dealt at the leniency of the elements of harmony, and that of what entails is unknown."

Celestia stepped forward, the ground trembling from the collapsing towers, "What say you?"

Nightmare Moon growled in anger. "WE WILL NEVER SURRENDER TO YOU!" She boomed.

Celestia's voice thundered, "So be it."

There are reasons, the Elements are kept away. Stored so deep underground, locked and bolted from anypony. One, for the undeniable fact that at one time, they were indeed used for evil. And two, for what happens after somepony uses them…

Its how they work. Why do such simple objects hold such immense power? That question and many more have been left unanswered. And within that simple notation, is what drove so many scholars mad trying to figure how to use them correctly, because the truthful answer is, You can't.

They are called Harmony for reason. They were made to balance Mythis, control the tide of chaos and mayhem, and on the opposite side, tear down prideful kingdoms, straighten the narrow, and curse the wicked.

The ultimate sacrifice of using the elements, is within how they put justice forth. Once you use them, trust in the fact that indeed, they will bring about harmony. But in what way will the stones do so?

Celestia murmured under her breath, "I am sorry, sister…" She released the immense power of the Elements of Harmony, sending forth a powerful rainbow of pure magic. This blast, shattered the walls entirely, leaving nothing standing as the colors shot forward into Nightmare Moons body.

On impact, the elements wrapped around Nightmare Moon, the fact of defeat causing her to scream on instinct as it slowly immobilized her and warped her into a nulled existence.

Celestia's eyes grew moist as Luna's shape began to dissipate, pieces of her disappearing one by one. She fell to the floor after the elements had been rid of using her, now fully intent on working their way with Luna. And from where she lay, Celestia could only shake her head to block out the screams of her sibling, which after seconds, winked from this plain.

After earning the sorrow to look at what had become of her sister, Celestia truly wept seeing her sister frozen on her moon. The shadow of her defiance etched upon the craters and holes.

She stood, shakily at first, knowing that what had transpired took much out of her. But stepped with confidence towards the spot where Luna last was, the Elements lifeless and scattered about.

Celestia looked upon them with a hatred most foul, but resigned in gathering them up. She locked them in her magic and turned to leave, but with one last glance, did Celestia share towards the moon.

Regret stained her heart heavily when she saw that slowly but surely, the moon fading away. It would come back, of that she was certain. But when?

So many questions… Answers that shall not be brought forth just yet.

However, and Unbeknownst to either of the Alicorns, the immense amounts of magic they had used came together and broke off into two masses, one staying near to Celestia and the other leaving to follow Nightmare moon.

* * *

 _I believe I have come to understand how Steam was created. His body is quite literally made from magic. He is the first life form that is fully sentient and created by magic, that wasn't a clone. I believe in know who's magic it was..._

 _He possesses multiple powers of nature. Fire, Ice, Electricity, and Earth. Each of these are very dangerous, especially in times of emotional distress. He must be kept out of danger to protect those around him._

 _I don't know where he got these powers though. The only one he could have gotten directly because of me is fire, as some of my magic is heat related. I have a theory as to where he got his electricity, but it is not a good one._

 _I am forced to make him believe he is truly my child. He has no true parents.. not biologically. I do not want to tell him.. But he will find out sooner or later..._

 _He seems to get along with my student, Twilight. Cadence babysits them both. She has no trouble from either of them, unless he sees somepony in some sort of danger._

 _He also seems to enjoy swords and sword fighting. He trains all the time with Shining Armor, captain of the Royal Guard. It's great to watch him be so happy._

 _I also enjoy spending time with him, though it is difficult to keep up with the child. He moves_ _ **fast.**_ _And he can go for a long time. It's almost annoying._

 _He is currently 5 years old. He will be turning 6 in a month from now. I'm planning on getting him his first wooden sword for fighting. I'm sure he'll love it._

 _Moving on from my adoptive child, It has been nearly 991 years since i banished my sister to the moon… It saddens me more and more every day, but I must not let that show. My subjects must have a strong leader._

 _I must also tend to some upcoming problems.. Nightmare Moon will be returning soon… I know the magic will not stop her forever. I must soon prepare Steam. He must not confront her without proper training.. Even then.. I don't want him to be there. She is my fight, and mine alone. I will not subject anypony, to such danger._

 _I think I hear Steam messing with the guards again… i wish he wouldn't do that, but it can't be helped. He listens, but this is part of his personality._

With that, Celestia stood from where she sat in her room with her diary, and opened the door.

"Steam. Leave them alone for a day. Don't you torture them enough?"

She heard a giggle and fast footsteps fading off down the hallway. She sighed and moved to follow.

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE TIME!_

 _I had a lot of fun writing this. This is how I'm going to have my story go from here on out. I have a collaborator working with me who probably wrote like two-thirds of this. His name is MrDerpface. Check him out and all that good stuff. I'm really happy to have had his help on this._

 _Anyways, let me know your thoughts on this version of the story. I like it,but i want your feedback as well. It will mean a whole lot to me. And it'll let me know what I need to do better._

 _Anyways, this is Blazing, signing off for the night since I'm pretty darn tired. BYE!_


	2. A New Story

Thanks to NatureMagicianGirl for following the story.

* * *

"Now, class, who here would like to give a demonst-" The teacher, Chocolate Blossom, began right as the bell rang for class to end. Her smile faded as the students, foals to grown stallions began to stand, "Oh well, it'll have to wait until tomorrow. Have a nice day class!" She called to them.

After the sound went off, everypony hopped from their desks, varying degrees of magic passing about the room in a canvas of colors, grasping for the personal belongings of one another.

Chocolate Blossom, having finished with her class for the day, waited at the door with a smile, watching as each individual student left. As she counted off the students one by one, she had to stop and count again, seeming to forget about…

"Ms. Blossom?"

Ah. The teacher stopped her thoughts and looked down towards who had called her. Past the mountains of books, papers, reports, checklists and quills, was a filly, barely standing amongst the weight of it all. In her violet grasp, was a report that was to be due tommorow during a lesson.

Cherry Blossom took the report and smiled gently, "Twilight, this isn't due until tomorrow…"

A little head popped from the side of the books, "Oh I know, I'm doing mine tonight. It's actually Steam's, Ms. Blossom."

Blossom perked up, "Indeed? Where is he?"

Twilight giggled, "Asleep over there." She gestured with a quill to where he was half-laying, half-sitting with his legs crossed and his arms folded over one another.

His fairly straight brown hair barely fell over his eyes, which were closed and hid his emerald green eyes. He had a coltish build to his body with broad shoulders. He wore a brown overcoat that draped midway to his thighs and mostly covered his white undershirt. He wore blue pants and black shoes as well.

He snored softly where he was, shifting a little in his sleep and mumbling something under his breath.

Twilight said softly, "He was up all night with Shining. He's really been practicing."

Blossom chuckled lightly to herself, "Oh, of course. Well, wake him up. Your auntie Cadance is waiting for you at the school entrance."

Twilight jumped in the air with a gasp, her belongings humorously going with her, "Auntie Cadance?!" Twilight zipped away, leaving her books in a violet glow and a smoke outline of herself.

She appeared next to Steam, a wide eyed look on her muzzle as she took her quill and tickled under his chin. At first, Steam had no reaction, but after a while his facial features changed to that of laughter,

"Heh, stop Twi… I'm tryin' to sleep."

Twilight smirked, "Obviously not sleepyhead. Now come on, Auntie Cadane is waiting for us!"

Steam's eyes opened and he sat up rather quickly. "Wait.. really? Why didn't you wake me up sooner?!" He said with a grin as he got up from his seat and to his feet.

Twilight groaned and watched as Steam made his way around the room, "Well I tried? If it makes you feel better."

Steam smiled and grabbed Twilights books from the air, "If you must know, yes, it does. Now come on, before we make her wait any longer." Twilight giggled in her own way and galloped after Steam, slowing to a trot next to his legs.

Blossom watched from her desk, a smile etched on her muzzle, "Fillies…"

Outside in the hallway, Twilight and Steam made their way, weaving between colts and fillies of different shapes and sizes, sometimes accidentally bumping into some. Because of that happening, some looks they would receive would be of anger, and others would be of fear.

But then again, it wasn't only Steam that was feared. Oh no. See, the school they both were enrolled into, was one for the magically gifted, those ponies and unicorns who held a much higher potential than others. Basically, it was a program that ripped young foals from their families, to ensure that their family was, "Safe."

So again, it wasn't just Steam who was feared, in truths, it was what Twilight and higher magic users could do too.

Who could blame them though? It comes with being one part awesome, and the other part too cool. At least that's what Twilight thought. Steam on the other hand, knew he was different. And after a while, learned to accept it. Who cares what other ponies think of him? Even though he isn't a pony, its not going to hinder him.

But it was a fact and question, some just couldn't push away.

"Oh lookie here, if it isn't Twilight Sparkle and her _pet_."

At the same time, both Twilight and Steam groaned inwardly, Twilight being the one to sigh, "Please tell me it isn't…"

Steam sighed. "It is.." He murmured to her. "Let me handle this. You go get Cadence."

Twilight nodded mutely, grabbing for her things and making head way for where she was sure Cadence was.

"Now… about you calling me a pet… Yeah. That's not gonna go well." Steam said with a calm voice.

A silver unicorn tittered lightly, her pale blue eyes flashing with humour, "It should, she has you leashed does she not? It's only natural for you to obey." Her smirk grew into a devilish grin, several ponies stopping to listen and glance at Steam in worry.

Steam raised an eyebrow, his eyes showing a spark of annoyance. "That was uncalled for actually… If I had to say anything about you… Your family tree must be a cactus, everyone on it is a prick."

That elicited a few gasps from the crowd. For a split second, embarrassment flashed through the silver pony's face. But as said before, only for a split second.

"Come now, don't let this ape belittle you, Mystic." Another pony stepped from the crowd, heighting to just below Steam's chin. He had the same features as Mystic, a silver coat and pale blue eyes,

"He doesn't even know how to use magic. For the stars, he isn't even a pony!"

Steam smirked. "Great. The whole family is here. Hey Thunder!" He waved at the larger silver pony, "How's your scar healing?"

Thunder growled and unconsciously covered a small scar on his hoof, "No better thanks to you. If I had a better moment than this, I believe Mystic and I would show you what real magic is…"

Steam sighed blissfully, "Aw… But you can't. Sucks. And it makes me even more mad, Mystic. You're so pathetic that you need friends to come and fight your battles for you. Makes me sick to find that such weak minds are gonna be the next generation."

"And yet one of yours is running away to fetch more. Such cowardice…nonetheless, why did you send her? The… Small one… Twiglet was it?"

Mystic smiled, "The freak."

"Her name.. is _Twilight_ … she is _no_ freak, and from this point on, I'm only gonna warn you two once. Shut _up_." He eyed the two of them, "Before I break your faces so hard you will be spoon fed for life." Steam growled, a small spark flying off his right hand as he clenched it. His eyes twitched and his pupils noticeably narrowed. "That can be arranged at a moment's notice if you don't shut up about my friend."

Those who were smart backed away, several stayed, obviously intrigued towards the outcome of what the technical battle would be.

Mystic opened her mouth to say something, and due to the situation caused because of words, both parties knew what would happen next. But before anything could happen a light voice called from behind a bend,

"Steam?"

It was brought to all that a certain pony was awaiting for Steam to acknowledge her. Her fur was colored a bright pink, extending to her hooves which were darker. The same could be said for her mane and tail colors, almost similar except for the other bright primaries of purple and pale yellow.

Steam's anger faded slightly and he shoved past the ponies that had been verbally assaulting him, strong enough to knock them over and began walking to where Cadence was.

As he walked, the two silver ponies both got up and muttered loud enough for all to hear, "Freaks… The pair of them…" But by the time Twilight or Steam could register what had been said, Cadence had brought the both of them to the main entrance, sharing a worried look over the two of them.

All three walked outside, nothing much to be said because of what had happened. It wasn't within the Alicorn to stay silent for long, and because of the extended silence, Cadence had to look between them both, hoping to break the awkward silence,

"So… uh.. How was school?"

They both grumbled, "It was alright..."

Steam spoke up. "I at least managed to get some sleep in today.."

Cadence smiled, "Oh that's nice! What'd you dream about?"

"Nothing I could really keep up with. Changed way too much." He said with a shrug.

"Oh… Well at least you got some sleep… During school… In class... Really Steam?" Cadence realized at the last moment, "You know how important it is staying awake. What if Celestia found out that yet again, you were counting sheep in Magic History."

Cadence leaned forward, "History, the most imp-."

Steam worked his hand while listening to Cadence but yawned upon hearing her next verbal assult. He stopped mid-walk, his movements becoming sluggish, until eventually, his eyes fell closed and he collapsed on the ground, suddenly asleep. Both unicorns blinked, their eyes locking on each other and flicking towards the now snoring human.

Cadence coughed awkwardly, "Uh… What just…" Twilight said grimly, "It seems you have found his sleeper hold Auntie. History. Puts him right to sleep."

Cadence tapped her hoof against her muzzle, "Good to know. Help me carry him would you Twi? Just Until we get into the chariot."

With both of their magic, Cadence and Twilight hefted Steam into the chariot in front of the school, each of them getting in so the drivers could easily take off. Steam sat next to Twilight, who in turn sat across from Cadence.

When the drivers started, the carriage lurched forward, throwing the sleeping passenger forward, face planting into the floor of the carriage.

His eyes flew open and he muttered something seemingly incoherent as he pushed himself up and back into the seat. "Aww…. Sweet Celestia that hurt! You could've helped me.. you know that, right?"

Twilight whispered, "You were asleep. We didn't want to wake you."

Steam snorted. "It's not like I care. You still could've at least prevented me from eating the seat…"

Twilight grinned, "Well you looked hungry."

"Oh hardy, har har…"

Cadence merely smiled and looked out the window, watching as different parts of canterlot passed by. Twilight smiled faintly, the past events seeming far away,

"So, Cadence, what are we doing today?"

Cadence looked to Steam and then to Twilight as she spoke, "Well, since you asked, Shining wants to see your skills thus far, and I want to take you to a special spot in the castle!"

Twilights eyes grew round, "What kind of special spot?"

Cadence raised a brow and smirked, "There's a reason it's called a surprise, young one."

Steam chuckled at Twilight's excitement, his friend's happiness rubbing off on him. "Cadence, you think he'll let me use my powers this time around?"

The alicorn said wryly, "Why would he say no? Shining is always looking for a challenge."

Steam grinned a bit. "Better get your lover boy ready." He said as his right hand caught fire. The fire wouldn't hurt any ponies in the chariot or the chariot itself, as usual.

"Careful what you wish for…" Twilight muttered obstinately, choosing to look out the window.

Soon after the brief discussion, the chariot arrived by one of the castle's side entrances, which had a large field out beside it. Several statues watched mutely, frozen in place as the chariot slowed to a stop amongst the steps.

Steam hopped out and rushed off towards the entrance, leaving both Twilight and Cadence behind. Taking leaps of fun filled fury, the usual climb of what was over so many steps, turned out to be only five. When he reached the top, Steam ran past the guards with a smile planted on his face, intent on finding his sword instructor.

Cadence and Twilight watched from below, the latter perking up, "What was Shining going to teach him today?"

Cadence started climbing the steps, a mystic look befuddling her eyes, "Well, Armor is very intrigued with how Steam can manipulate elements. You've seen it too no doubt, how he can basically become a match on pure will."

Twilight giggled, "Yes I have actually. He was a nice night light a few nights ago believe it or not."

Cadence and Twilight shared a small laugh together, after which Cadence smirked, "Armor has taken quite the advance towards seeing if Steam can manipulate it onto an object."

"Such as a sword!"

Cadence nodded, "Precisely. Like I said however, Shining has yet to see if he can actually perform such a feat."

Twilight said confidently, "I'm sure he can do it! Steam hasn't backed out of a challenge yet!"

Twilight chuckled nervously after a moment's hesitation, "Except for that time when he tried to eat one of Celestia's cakes…"

Cadence rolled her eyes, "He should've seen what was coming… Nopony has ever done anything to Auntie Celestia and survived… Apart from her sister of course…"

Twilight awed, "Is that so?! Why haven't I met her before then!?"

Cadence and Twilight reached the top of the steps, Cadence bringing about a frown, "Strangely enough young one, I begin to question why Celestia hasn't told you about her herself."

Twilight sighed, "Yeah… She's been quite vague for a few months… Maybe because Steam and I are about to get out of school?"

Cadence blinked and instead of letting the depressing mood continue, smiled, "That may be so actually. Nothing to be down over. You don't have to worry about getting up so early."

Twilight guffawed, "It's not me who fusses over getting up early, it's the lazy bugger who shares a room with me who complains every morning."

Cadence merely smirked and entered the castle doors, having already passed by the guards and the longer walkway,

"Well, you get the picture Twilight."

"Indeed… soooooo about that special room?" Twilight began with a small grin.

Cadence snickered, "Patience. Believe me, technically I'm not even supposed to be showing you this section of the castle."

"And yet you are, why?" Twilight asked simply.

"Because you had to find out sooner, rather than later. Plus, if we do get found out, your brother can bail us out."

Twilight was surprisingly quiet after the last bit, the both of them beginning their journey to the… Special portion of the castle.

* * *

"Okay… Obviously putting everything into one go doesn't work… and now we need another sword… Private!"

A brown stallion, laced with bright armor awoke from a daze and shook his head to clear his thoughts. Upon hearing his orders from the superior, he quickly fetched another sword, carefully passing it over to the larger unicorn.

The unicorn grasped it within his violet glow and tapped it against his white hooves, "Look, magic is fun, but at the same time, really dangerous. But of course you already knew that." Shining said with a precarious laugh.

When he heard nopony else joining in his jive, Shining cleared his throat nervously, "Try not to turn this into slop. It's bad enough already that four have met their demise…"

Steam rolled his eyes at this and simply took the sword. "Oh, be quiet. I won't destroy this one. Probably." He muttered as he took his stance yet again, sliding his left foot behind his right and leaning forward just slightly. He honestly had no clue as to why he kept messing these swords up. Normally, his fire didn't affect anything he didn't want it to.

Shining and Private watched hesitantly as Steam worked his magic. It started off slow, the flames did, working from seemingly out of thin air and up his sleeve onto his hand. From there it moved onto the sword, making the air thick with anticipation towards seeing success. And a slight lack of oxygen.

But maybe another time as fate would have it. The sword glowed a bright red after moments of the flames contact, and it just melted from the tip of the blade to the hilt of the handle.

Shining blew his lips and scratched the back of his head, "Buck… Right. Uh… Private?" The white unicorn said with a nervous grin.

Private raised a brow and gestured with a wave towards the empty rack of what had been swords, "All out, sir."

"Ah."

Steam sighed in pure annoyance and tossed the hilt out of sight, the flames disappearing a moment later. "Uggh.."

Private slumped to a sit on a nearby stool, provided for those who were amazingly tired,

"I don't see why you want him to do this Shining, Sir, I don't even think that's magic."

Shining laughed and nodded, a smirk forming, "Well that's the mystic part about it! I've been trying for a while to figure it out, and one day, it came to me while I was watching him… Set my bedsheets on fire… I still don't know why he did that…"

Shining turned to Steam, "Was there a point to that?"

He didn't seem to have been listening, as he'd been glaring off at a hill from the moment Shining had said the word Mystic.

"Uh… Right… Anyways… Steam here doesn't need magic, Private."

Private raised an accursed brow, "Why is that?"

"He has control of fire, electricity, ice, and the earth around him. He is quite literally a force of nature."

Private blinked, "And… How did you figure that out while he was burning your bedsheets?"

Shining opened his mouth and sighed, his mood dropping, "He took a candle flame and used it against me… It was quite a … Burn. Eh? Eh?"

Private said unamused, "Right.."

Steam sighed a bit. "Shining.. stop trying so hard. You don't wanna hurt yourself before your marefriend gets back."

Shining gasped, "Oh… Come on! Take that back! She doesnt even… Alright fine. At least try to be civil about how loud you present personal inquiries…" Shining finished with a pout.

Steam turned slightly to him. "Oh? And why must I? Last I checked, I'm actually above you as the prince."

Private snickered in the back, watching as Shining sighed in depression, "Why does everypony assume I'm in love with Cadence because of her power? I'm not! Seriously!"

Steam smirked. "Cause you do. It's pretty obvious to anypony who pays attention."

Shining went goofy eyed, "Yeah. Imma sucker for her really. But I can't blame myself."

Steam chuckled a bit and sat down. He tapped the ground and it rumbled lightly.

"Well… I guess that's all for right now. Until Private gets more swords. Hint hint, Private." No words need be said as the brown pony took off.

Shining breathed out, "So anyways, how's Twilight doing? Haven't been able to see her lately."

"She's doing pretty well. Still stuffing her nose into every book imaginable. Even then.. she's helped me a lot recently.." He said softly.

Shining grinned, "Sounds like Twi. I also imagine she's been keeping you busy with helping Spike and all."

Steam nodded, "Yeah, but, other than that, I don't have much else to do. School work is too easy… when I don't fall asleep and she does it for me." Shining snickered, but Steam ignored it, "I've asked her more than once to not do that, yet she still does it."

"Well she enjoys work. And quite frankly, it doesn't take a Princess of Love to see that you two are close. She care for you bro. I'm not implementing anything weird, but it's just you two share something special is all."

"I've been around her for multiple years now. Of course we're close, but I still wish she didn't do my work when I pass out. And.. well… it's nice to know I can stand up for her.."

Shining nudged Steam playfully, "Keep it up, and eventually you'll be stealing my other job."

"Maybe I should.." Steam murmured in an almost thoughtful tone.

Shining stood and shrugged, "Maybe. It's kinda undecided at the moment. I'm still trying to figure out if you can play the role of, 'BBBFF'."

Steam simply stood, opting not to say much on this. "Oh well.. anyways, you should visit her soon."

Shining nodded, "Indeed. If time permits of course. I haven't been able to see Cadence lately either actually."

"Oh, Shining!"

"Speak of the devil there, Armor."

Shining nudged Steam, "Hey that's my future wife bro. Chill…"

And indeed, Cadence was there, with Twilight beside her. Precariously enough, beside the both of them, were a pair of Royal Guards. Two of which Shining knew well. And by well, it was meant by, only when bad stuff happened.

The smile Shining held was faltering slowly as both stone faced guards said in unision,

"Captain, we found these two snooping around the Starswirl the Bearded portion of the castle. Rules state that-"

Shining held a hoof up, "Nopony is allowed in that wing unless it is either Celestia or her sister. Yes, I get it. What were they doing that made you carry them both down here?"

The guard on the left ruffled his wings, "Reading… Sir…"

Shining stated flatly, "Reading."

"Yes."

"Reading a book."

"Yes sir."

"And there is a law against reading, where?"

The two guards said nothing as Cadence, Twilight and Steam had to stifle their laughter with varying degrees of coughs and other non suspicious actions.

"The two of you are dismissed. I apparently need to reprimand these two for trying to read, so if you'll excuse me." Shining shooed them away with a twist of his head, the guards looking at one another and eventually taking off in a direction away from him.

Steam grinned a bit at this. "Great job. Now we gotta go make some new laws about reading. Just amazing." He joked aloud.

Twilight snorted, "You should've seen them earlier." She emphasized by looking between Cadence and Steam, "I've never seen Auntie get so mad."

Cadence rolled her eyes, "It wasn't so much on being angry, Twilight. It was because of their ignorance did I… Infuriate myself a little bit."

Twilight blinked, "But you called them all those mean na-"

"SHHU-Sh little one. I did not." Cadence said with nervous smile.

Steam raised an eyebrow. "Wow.. anyways.. what were you doing down there in the first place?"

Twilight smiled brightly, "Auntie wanted to show me Celestia's Journal!"

Shining backpedaled, "Wait, the journal? Cadence, does Celestia even know about this?"

"Pssh, this old thing was gathering dust, Shiny. And no, I don't think she'd mind if we look at embarrassing pictures of her as a foal."

Shining blinked and after a moment shrugged, "Guess it wouldn't hurt to take a peek."

Steam smirked, "Of course it wouldn't. If she didn't want anypony to see it, she would've hid the journal better."

Cadance smirked, "Regardless, let's have a look see shall we?" She brought out a dusted journal, the stitching and pages in disarray. Everyone gathered in a circle, all eyes trained on the first page,

 _The Diary of the Two Sisters_

* * *

 _As was said last chapter, go check out MrDerpface. He is such a big help in writing all this. Check out all his stuff, favorite and follow, send him a banana, whatever._

 ** _Derp: I prefer soda's… But bananas are nice. At least they ain't sending pineapples_**

 ** _*vietnam flashback* °∆° so… Many… Pineapples..._**

 _And, I do hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know that I should be getting at least 1-2 chapters out every week. If I don't, that means I got busy dealing with stuff._

 ** _Derp: SO DON'T BE SAD!_**

 _And, we are about 300 words higher in word count than last chapter, not including the author's note in this one._

 ** _Derp: *pops confetti* THE MORE THE MERRIER! •Π•_**

 _Anyways, I gotta start thinking of new ways to sign off. I'm already running out.. kinda sad…_

 _HAVE FUN WITH YOUR DAY! BYYEEE!_


	3. Discovery

**Chapter 3**

"Cadence, did you know about this?"

Cadence looked up from the book page, "No, I didn't. I'm just as confused as you, Shining…"

Shining Armor scratched the back of his head, his features becoming questionable,

"Well actually there is a reason, says here that it disappeared centuries ago."

Twilight spoke up from underneath Shinings leg, "Because of this pony… Sombra?"

Cadence shivered, "Eesh… His name sounds creepy."

"Well, says here he was creepy. And evil. Double whammy guys…"

Steam nodded, turning the next page,

"Well it comes from the fact that he grew mad with power."

So many things had happened after opening the diary. If you want to try and guess at what lay hidden in the words of Celestia, be my guest. But what the three ponies and… other pony, found, was both entertaining, shocking, and quite disturbing.

Really though, it comes from the years Celestia accumulated. And from those years, she had put down her emotions, the secrets she had kept hidden, and the most grueling days not even Cadence knew about.

For one, it set a new light on Celestia, and not just her either. All four discovered after turning countless pages, an excerpt from Celestia's mind, a memory. And within that, a mysterious mare, Luna.

Like Celestia, but different, Luna was gifted with the power to raise the moon. Well that begged the question of where she was. Why wasn't Luna raising the moon? Rather, why make Celestia do it?

As they dug deeper, it was soon made apparent, that they couldn't back out of what they were learning. The picture that was soon to be painted was a fearful one. And it wouldn't allow Steam to walk away unscathed.

"Luna? Cad-"

"Twilight, I don't know who that is." Cadence said with a furrowed brow, "I'm quite amazed at how much Celly hasn't told me."

Steam snorted, "More like kept from _all_ of us."

As they continued to read about this mare, the words that described her, were that of what a mother would say to their child. It was obvious from the moving pages that Celestia indeed, did care about this, Luna.

Right around the time they turned to an excerpt describing the last time Celestia saw Luna, a group of guards decided to interrupt. Their courtesy was met with the honorifics of both Shining and Cadence. Twilight, decided to tag along with them, and eventually, Steam found himself alone reading his mother's diary.

Pages of countless rules of ruling, the battles with a chaotic god, and another except of a Crystal Kingdom did nothing to stir a surprise from Steam. It was moreover on the discovery of this mare, just like Celestia, who made his thoughts swim with questions.

So Steam skipped over the incoherent babbling of his mother an read on about Luna. However, as he read the… Story written had suddenly taken a darker turn, leaving Steam with a growing sense of dread as Celestia described the deterioration of Luna's mind. It started with her anger, and ended very abruptly with an incursion between the two of them over who had the right to raise both the sun and moon.

Steam had only seen his mother as calm and collected. Never had he been yelled at, nor has he seen his mother raise her voice. But as he read more of the diary, the attitude of Luna had spread to Celestia, and she had often found herself fighting with Luna.

But the shock Steam had to hold was insurmountable to the fact that was placed before him. It said it all in just a few sentences too,

 _If it had gone any other way, I would have failed as a Ruler. But to do that to family…_

Steam's eyes widened. "Her sister…" He flipped back several pages, and one of them gave the same sort of detail, though it directly mentioned her sister.

"Luna.. is her sister…"

Steam frowned softly and kept reading.

He eventually reached the portion where she was writing about her times with him. He read with great interest, a smile forming on his face as he read.

That was, until he found the one detailing how exactly he existed. That ruined everything.

It explained what she knew. How he'd been created with magic. How he didn't really have parents.

Everything.

It broke him to the core.

He gritted his teeth and stood, slamming the book shut and kicking it as far as he could before teleporting past the doors to leave the room and storming off down the hall.

A guard tried to stop him, only to get shoved into a wall and left there.

Steam went to the nearest open window and jumped out, landing gently on the ground and just.. sat. He didn't know what to feel at this point. His lip trembled as his body gave away to the grass.

Anger.

Sadness.

Utter despair.

Any of these were truly valid. But he didn't want to feel any of them. He had more important things to do. And so, he sat there for a while. Thinking and looking at the ground solemnly before he finally decided to go back in to try and find Twilight. Maybe doing something with her would help his mood.

Maybe.

* * *

Steam had no trouble at finding Twilight. As per she was where she normally was, the library. Steam found her (and her nose) buried six feet in a book pertaining to dark magic. So with a pluck, he removed the book and booped his surprised friend upon the nose,

"Hey, Twilight, Why don't we both wind down a bit and wander around Canterlot?"

This was the insanely casual question Steam proposed to Twilight mere moments after finding her.

Twilight seriously considered this for a moment. On one hoof, they could have plenty of fun while they were out there… but, on the other… A lot of these ponies are seemingly afraid of him. She didn't want his fun to be ruined if they went out.

When Steam saw Twilight go into her deep deep thought process, he simply picked her up and walked out of the room, heading towards the exit of the castle.

Twilight blinked when the scenery changed as they left the castle and wriggled free from Steam.

"Hey!" She whined a little. "I didn't say if I wanted to go or not!"

Steam shrugged. "Oh well." He said nonchalantly as he continued walking, forcing Twilight to hurry along after him.

Twilight sighed, "Can you at least tell me where we are going?"

"I was planning on going to Donut Joe's." He said with a soft shrug.

"Well that's a change in scenery. I did hear he had a new sale going on for some sort of city… Made out of donuts I think."

Steam smiled a bit. "That sounds pretty awesome."

Twilight smiled, "It sounds filling actually. And because of such, I'm hungry… I blame it on you."

"That sucks. For you." He replied simply as he continued to walk.

As discussed, Twilight and Steam walked to Donut Joe's. Now, from the castle, it wasn't much of a walk, but it made up for scenery. For example, there would be times of when they would pass by a well made statue, or a furnished house. And if it wasn't houses or statues, it was the higher class individuals that demanded their attention.

Some, were dressed in the garments of what seemed to be gold. Those few brought out the word flashy in retrospects. And often, Steam and Twilight would pass by and be frowned upon because of their, simple ways. But, others like them two, wore more simple stitch attire, ranging from button ups to nothing at all. They were more of a rarity in Canterlot however.

After a while of walking and viewing the sights, Twilight glanced up at Steam to notice that he had been silent for some time. It didn't take much to guess that something was bothering him.

"Seems somepony is quiet. What's up?" Twilight asked with a smile.

Steam blinked and looked towards Twilight, "Huh? Oh. Eh, don't wanna talk about it right now.. I just found out I've been lied to all my life.. No big deal.."

Twilight looked around, her eyes darting to and fro, "Lied to… When did you find that out?"

Steam remained silent, his brows furrowing in despair. It took Twilight a moment, but she realized that sooner or later, he would tell her, but right now, wasn't the best time.

Take it into fact, that being with somepony who has a problem, and doesn't speak for a duration of time, is rather nerve racking. And it set Twilight on edge seeing her friend this way. Regardless, Steam tried not to let it show.

"Hey, there it is."

Donut Joe's shop came into view with all of its glory, from the giant donut on top of the shop itself, all the way down to the outside dining tables, filled to the brim with different ponies. It was white on every side, the only other color being the giant pink sprinkled donut.

Twilight chuckled to herself and allowed Steam to open the door for her. After, both stepped inside, the both of them getting into the short line.

"Whaddya think… Should I get a Hayberry Filled? Or maybe the Glazed…" Twilight said as she nudged Steam.

Steam smiled a bit, "I want a regular glazed, then glazed with chocolate, covered with sprinkles, with chocolate whipped cream, then topped with chocolate, peanut butter, and more sprinkles."

The line died a little bit as Steam reminisced on his choice, leaving them the next one to be ordered. The pony at the register did his best to take down what Steam had said, and merely blinked when he finished, turning to Twilight with a nervous smile,

"May I… Uh… Take your order?"

Twilight snickered, "I'll take a glazed. While I'm waiting, _you_ can deal with _his_ order. Again."

The stallion paled slightly, "Thank you… Miss… ahem, sir?"

Steam completely recounted what he wanted on his donut. Which, and when done, left several necks cracked towards him, and had several mouths agape. Stepping back, Twilight and Steam picked a table to sit in, near the corner of the store.

Steam used the control over earth that he had to slide the chairs out so they could both sit, taking his seat moments after.

Twilight stuck her tongue out, "Showoff."

Steam simply shrugged, "Get over it."

As the two of them waited, Twilight took this chance to look out the window. Outside, the sun had barely reached its peak, leaving everypony with a nice warm day, courtesy of Celestia.

Celestia… Twilight blinked and felt her gaze shift to Steam, who was currently twiddling with his napkin, folding it and unfolding it. Accidentally burning it and grabbing a new one.

Rolling her eyes, Twilight thought back to when they had opened the journal.

It… Was interesting, to say in the least. Yes, It had as much information as Canterlot Library, but it dated to over one thousand years ago, and beyond. The journal probably held more knowledge than a historian could.

They only got through a couple of pages before Cadence told them they had to stop. The key topics being something about a God Of Chaos, and then there was another on a Crystal Empire. Nothing too serious, But Steam had wanted to read more. Said something about, 'Seeing if I can dig up some dirt on Mom'. Well, he did. Regardless of what the content was.

Twilight found herself staring sullenly at the waiter, watching as he brought forth two worthy donuts.

Steam glanced to Twilight. "I'll tell you about it later…" He murmured to her. "It's not a topic for the public to listen in on."

Twilight lifted her head, "Huh? What topic?"

Steam grew noticeably annoyed in a short moment. "I will tell you _later._ "

Twilight huffed, "Alright, no need to get angry about it. Let's just enjoy our donuts… Well my donut…" she then smiled, "Yours is more like an instant heart attack."

Steam rolled his eyes. "I've eaten worse. You weren't there when I ate all of my icing stash."

Twilight cocked her head, "Was...your icing stash? Steam, that was for the Grand Galloping Gala cake! That thing's at least twenty hooves high! H-...Yo-… HOW?!"

"Ohh… that's why it was so huge…. Huh… I screwed up big time, didn't I?"

"Big time?! How do we… No you, explain to Celestia that she won't be getting cake this year?!" Twilight quietly exclaimed.

Steam sighed. "I'll take care of things. You know I've got my ways."

Twilight held her muzzle, "And your ways are somehow always getting you into more trouble. PROVEN. And at the same time unacceptable."

"Yet, I always get things fixed. Except that one time Prince Blueblood kept getting in my way. I swear he has it out for me."

"Hmm.. Seems to be that way when you place your magic in his private bathrooms. Maybe not that, but I doubt he'll let you forget the time you singed his _perfect_ mane."

Steam rolled his eyes. "It's not magic, Twilight. We both know I don't have the ability to use magic. And that incident was simply me messing up while trying to control my fire. And he had it coming. Little prick.."

"Right. Anyways. Princess Celestia told me… That she wanted to see you soon." Twilight blinked and turned to look outside,

"She wouldn't tell me what for. But coming from her, it's important."

Steam frowned softly at this and shifted in his chair a bit. "Really..? She wouldn't tell you why?"

"Nope. And it worries me. So!" Twilight added with a bit of forced resign, "I hope it doesn't involve you and Shining getting into trouble again."

"Not that it matters. We both know I can get out of almost anything." He murmured after a short moment. _Do I even_ _want_ _to see her now?_ He asked himself.

"Almost being the k-" Twilight's donut hovered mid-air when she had noticed the lack of food on Steam's side, "-ey...word…"

She slowly put her food down and said slowly, "Now that I think about it, the less I want to eat… How about we uh… Head back…"

Steam stood up and knocked his chair back into place with a simple kick, heading to the door with a smile. The two of them exited Donut Joe's, Twilight being the first one, Steam following thereafter.

Following the route they took before, both of them found several spots recognizable and quite outstanding. Twilight even stopped to peer inside of a unique music store. But beyond that, nothing happened worth mentioning.

That is until they stopped a few feet towards the castle.

Steam noticeably tensed up and his face slowly grew annoyed, though he didn't seem to be looking at anything in particular. It was like there was something nearby that just angered him. Then, a voice rang out,

"And you wouldn't believ-... WHY IF IT ISN'T TWILIGHT SPARKLE AND HER PET!"

Twilight oozed with dread, "Oh sweet Celestia…"

Steam slowly turned to find one of the few ponies he dreaded the most. Mystic.

"What do you want?" He asked shortly.

Mystic only smirked. "A simple chat is all.. but… I must request that incompetent beasts stay out of it. This is a conversation for the higher up beings of this world."

Twilight gritted her teeth a bit. "What's your problem with us!? We never did anything to you!"

"That's just it! You are the _perfect_ student. You think you're so amazing just because Celestia has you as a pupil. YOU'RE NO BETTER THAN THE REST OF US!"

Steam almost lost his temper when he saw Twilight cower back a little from the screaming, but managed to keep himself from beating this pony's face in. "That's it. I'm giving you five seconds to get out of here."

"No! Little Twiglet over there is nothing special. She's just as weird as you, you ape!"

Steam stormed over to Mystic, his fist already cocked back in anger. When he punched, his fist met a magical barrier, but his raw strength destroyed the barrier in moments and he followed up with a second punch. This punch sent Mystic tumbling back at least twenty feet and into a random shop.

Twilight immediately rushed over and grabbed Steam's arm.

"Steam! Calm down!"

He tried to shake free of her hold, his pupils having dilated to a fraction of their normal size and his fists literally about to catch fire.

She held on tight, not letting him do anything more as guards stormed over and immediately did what they were told to do if Steam's powers acted up. Throw a ton of water on him at once.

His ability to control fire was lost in that instance and he snapped out of his anger trance, finally realizing what he'd done. And the small crimson stain on his hand.

"No.. no no no…"

With this done, the guards attempted to escort him back to the castle, but he took off from them, running off to the gardens to get away from everything.

Twilight rushed after him, having completely forgotten about Mystic.

Mystic was lying on the ground in a daze, her mind truly scared of Steam for the first time. She'd seen the stance Steam had taken. That punch had been a follow-up.. meaning it was weaker … and that frightened Mystic to no end.

Steam ran through the garden, past various statues. One seemed to have eyes that followed his movement.

He ran fast enough that Twilight had lost track of him and had to guess purely by knowing Steam. She immediately went to the part of the garden that was farthest from everything. And there, Twilight found Steam sitting against a white pillar, vines draping over the top and hanging lazily above the ground.

She carefully went over to him and sat down in front of his seated form.

"Steam… are you okay?"

To this, he made no reply. His eyes were hidden from sight by his hair and drops of what Twilight was readily believing to be tears drop from his chin every couple of seconds.

She placed a hoof around shoulders. "Steam… it's alright. You didn't do anything wrong…"

He finally responded choking on his own words multiple times."I.. I-i l-lost it… a-ag-gain…"

Twilight frowned softly. Now she understood exactly why he was so upset. Last time he'd gotten this angry… it didn't go so well. The poor pony ended up in the hospital for a week. And their house had been utterly destroyed. Not to mention their shop...

"Steam.. everything will be alright…" She murmured softly.

"No.. it won't be... "

"Why is that?"

"Gossip will get around and every single pony will believe that I punched Mystic for no reason…"

A new voice rang out nearby. It was definitely male, and it was very familiar.

"Hello? Steam? Oh.. where did the boy run off to?" The pony notoriously known as Fancy Pants said as he hurried about the gardens, trying to find Steam and Twilight. He was obviously worried for the both of them.

Twilight called out softly. "Over here!"

Fancy Pants heard this and made his way over to them, frowning at Steam's appearance. "Oh my…"

Steam didn't even look up. "Both of you.. just leave me alone.." He muttered, his hands laying on his knees which helped support the weight of his upper body.

"Aw… Where's the fun in leaving you alone? Takes out on the special, friendship factor." Twilight leaned over and whispered quickly, "Which is still a harsh work in progress." Fancy Pants however, got the memo and nodded briskly,

"I saw what happened. And to comment on such, I would like to say that, frankly, Mystic deserved it."

Steam looked away. "It doesn't matter.. mo-... _Celestia_ … has told me to not act on anger… and I do it all the time.."

Twilight sighed quietly, "Uh oh… A shortened vocabulary is a troubled one." Twilight sat next to Steam, "No, Mom? Just, Celestia now?"

Fancy Pants looked to her in surprise when he noticed the abnormal spike of anger that arose from Steam.

"Yeah! Just _Celestia!"_ He said lowly, a small growl entering his voice.

Twilight however, remained calm, "Well there's a problem, she isn't _just Celestia._ She is, and will remain your mom. And judging by all the fuss you've been shooting out, you got a problem on your hooves." She smiled, "Come on. I'll listen."

"Alright! You wanna know what the problem is!?" He said, shooting to his feet and slamming his fist into the large, white pillar. His gaze moved to her, he was obviously angry once more, but it wasn't directed at Twilight in any way.

His body had caught fire by now, and he didn't care. He was _furious_.

"She lied to me all my life! I always thought she was my mom, but I don't even have a mom! I'M JUST MAGIC!" He screamed, slamming his foot down forcefully, shattering the stone underneath him. "THAT'S ALL I'VE EVER BEEN!"

Twilight chuckled, "I wouldn't say that."

Fancy Pants agreed, "Indeed, Twilight. Steam," Fancy said, directing his monocled gaze to the raging inferno, "You're more than just magic. Try and call it what you want, but you're not that."

Twilight snickered, "Yeah. I couldn't imagine where Princess Celestia would be without you. She lied to you for a reason. Don't you think this is why?"

Steam was having no more of this and spun away from them, throwing a large shard of ice that shattered apart a bust of none other than the Sun Princess herself.

That was the moment where he broke down once more, seeing just what Twilight had meant. He fell to his knees and gritted his teeth. "I.. I can't believe her.. or myself…"

The fires died away and he sat, ashamed of himself in that instance.

Twilight shrugged sadly, "We all keep secrets from one another. And with those secrets, we all carry unkempt burdens."

Steam closed his eyes. "Yeah.. yeah... I get it.. You can stop your intellectual speeches now.."

Fancy Pants smirked, "Steam, she's just starting. Don't underestimate the power of speaking."

Twilight glanced at the fancy pony gratefully, "Besides. I'm always gonna be here, somewhere around near you. And you best believe you're going to hear more."

With that, Steam stood and began walking. "Nope. NOT TODAY!" He exclaimed as he jumped into a tree.

Fancy Pants regarded the action with a, 'hmph', afterwards, turning to the still sitting unicorn, "Well, he comes back rather quickly."

Twilight laughed, "It's his talent. And he's had _years_ of practicing it."

"Well I'm just glad that he is able to bounce back from such a catastrophe." Fancy Pants said, rubbing a hoof on his apparel.

Twilight sighed, "Quite. And unfortunately, I doubt Mystic, won't be bouncing back anytime soon?"

The response was a stomach dropper, making Twilight nod, "Right… regardless of what she did, I'll make it evident that we wish to see her soon."

Fancy Pants turned to leave, "That was what I was hoping you'd say. Steam managed to break her magical barrier without magic, Twilight. Mystic is quite lucky her horn did not shatter."

Twilight watched as he left. Slowly, Twilight stood, taking into mind what Fancy had just said, and the problem at hoof. No doubt this has already reached Celestia, and no doubt that Steam has begun his way to his mother himself.

Twilight walked in where she had seen Steam last. Things were heating up. Pun, intended.

* * *

 _ **I'm so sorry you guys. I didn't mean to take this long between uploads.**_

 _ **This has been held off because of another project I have that I've been working on, and the fact that I've been working with a lot of other people on their stories.**_

 _ **I'll go ahead and list them for you guys to check them out.**_

 _ **The Element's and Then There's Me - Mr Derpface**_

 _ **Self-Inserting Dragon Lord - DragonLord RyuKizoku**_

 _ **Another story of my own that I'm working a lot on.**_

 _ **Hero - yasha012**_

 _ **All of these stories are pretty awesome. You should check them out if you have time.**_

 _ **Also, don't forget to review, and, on to the review.**_

 _ **To the guest (hero)... thank you for that. I'm personally proud of how far I've gotten thus far. Thank Mr Derpface. He's helped me a lot as of late, such as making sure I don't get too repetitive in sentences.**_

 _ **Anyways, thanks for reading this.**_

 _ **This was originally part of a much much larger chapter that was over 9,000 words. Broke it apart and this is the first part, so, hope you guys enjoy.**_


	4. Ascendence

**Chapter 4**

Steam had long since left the gardens, knowing Twilight was more than capable of finding her way back to the castle on her own.

He needed to talk to Celestia. And soon. This wasn't something he could just go on without saying anything about. So, he went off to the castle, heading slowly for the throne room to deal with this. As Steam put himself onto the steps, his feet eventually found themselves in the main hall.

After walking around aimlessly, Steam diverted his path from the kitchen and trudged towards the throne room. Although yes, there were many, the last thing he expected was for a guard to come up behind him and tap on his side.

"Steam. The Princess would like to see you now."

It was indeed, strange for his mother to call on him, but Steam decided it would be best to make this in stride. However, facing Celestia took everything in his power not to run away, so he nodded,

"Alright."

With that, the guard went with Steam to the throne room, making him move twice as fast as he'd wanted to move. They very quickly arrived, and Steam pushed open the doors, which normally took multiple seconds for the guards to push open on their own. He walked in, and straight to Celestia's throne.

"Yes, I know of the upcoming Celebration, Mayor Mare. And I trust in your expertise to make it as best as you can. Signed, Princess Celestia."

Steam stopped in the middle of the room, his eyes raking over the scene before him. Celestia was pacing slowly back and forth, a guard scribbling away on a paper. After the dialogue, Celestia smiled,

"Thank you, Blazing Winds. Please, if you will, send that to Ponyville."

The guard nodded and performed a spell, whisking the letter off to Ponyville as he bowed to her,

"Is that all?"

Celesta tipped her head slightly, "Nothing more. I have matters to attend to. You are dismissed."

The guard nodded once more, turning and taking his leave from the room.

Steam cleared his throat after hearing the enormous wooden doors close, "I have something to talk to you about, and it's not something that can wait."

Celestia nodded, taking her throne,

"Yes. I was beginning to ask myself if I should have confronted you of it."

Steam raised an eyebrow. "What exactly are you talking about. I can tell we're not on the exact same page here."

"Good catch. I am actually on two of them. On one, You read something you shouldn't have. On the other, you let your rage get the best of you." Celestia said, her smile never fading.

Steam's eyebrow twitched lightly, though it wasn't anger or annoyance. It was actually anxiousness. He hadn't wanted to deal with either of those just yet, but it seemed he had no choice.

"First off, I don't recall you ever saying I couldn't read a book, and I have access to every single room in this castle except your own room. Second, that pony was messing with both me and Twilight and she pushed it way too far this time. You need proof? Ask Twilight or Fancy Pants."

"I don't need to ask for proof. I observed both happenings, I'm the one who planted the idea of reading our diary to Cadence." She grimaced, "But I forgot that it was during that day, those two guards were patrolling… And as for Mystic…"

Celestia sighed, "She was always a thorn in your side. And today, you decided to pluck her. It's a pity, but also a learning experience."

Steam was taken aback by this, but it didn't show for once. He straightened himself. "Alright then.. I have two questions for you, and I want answers."

Celestia merely shrugged, "Alright. I will answer them. But you may not like how I do so." She gestured for Steam to continue, "Ask away."

"First, why'd you never tell me about my actual origins?" He asked, his right hand slipping into his pocket almost casually. His eyes were locked right on hers, ready to call her out if she chose to dodge around the answer.

Celestia rested a hoof on her muzzle, "You would have never believed me. And of course, never would have accepted it." She shifted slightly, "But, your origins, were kept from you, as a precaution."

Steam could tell she didn't leave anything out, so he voiced the second question.

"Why didn't you say anything about your sister?"

"Luna…" Celestia grew silent for a moments time, allowing the name of her sister to echo in the decadent throne room,

"I didn't say anything in regards to her, because you were not yet ready to know just yet."

"What the buck do you mean by that?"

Celestia tilted her head, "Swear." But towards the question, she grew grim, "Steam if you think you are the only one on this plain that is different, then you are wrong." Celestia leaned forward,

"You were created magically, by no doubt you have seen that. But you weren't the only one created."

Steam's entire demeanor grew serious. "What?" He demanded. "What. Do. You. Mean. By. That."

"I recall you asking for… What was it? Two questions?" Celestia pointed out, "A third, is a bit much at a time like this, young one."

Steam's eye twitched once more, and the annoyance was evident in his eyes. "Fine." He muttered as he suddenly disappeared.

Barely a second later, he reappeared at the door, threw it open hard enough to make it slam against the wall, then walked off, simply knocking the spear the guard outside the door had been holding away.

Watching him leave, was now the third hardest emotion Celestia had held at bay. The doors came shut with an eerie squeal, hiding the lone tear that fell from her muzzle,

"Oh Luna… I hope I have done the right thing."

* * *

 _Have I done the truly correct thing by telling Steam all of this? I sincerely hope I have.. for his sake.. and everypony in Equestria._

 _The way he left, his anger, the… rage he excreted when I didn't tell, reminded me of it. And… It reminded me, of me when I was younger. For many years, I've wondered… We created him. With my magic, and hers… Does that also mean the Nightmare Moon would be his…_

 _No… I mustn't think of this. Steam is my own._

 _Now, my only concern resides within his skills of, Social Interaction. A horrid thought, yes, but I believe some time away from the residents of Canterlot would do him well. Maybe I could send Twilight with him… She too needs to learn the values of friendship._

 _Yes, this could work… Ponyville seems a reasonable place. Quiet, isolated, but moreover on the side of, Adventure. Perfect for Steam's insatiable appetite for… well… anything in relation to sugar._

 _Now, I must prepare myself for the Summer Sun Celebration. It is marking one thousand years of peace, the raising of the sun and moon, and is to be a special occasion. But that is my where I am concerned,_

 _One thousand years of peace, and all too soon it is going to happen..._

 _I fear she is returning… and she's not alone…"_

* * *

"Wait! WHAT!?" Steam exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air. "Why are we going there!?"

Twilight shared the same reaction, "I agree, Princess Celestia, you can't just ignore the signs! This… Mare on the Mo-"

Celestia chuckled, "Twilight, stop. This is why you are being sent there." She levitated the scroll up, "You spend all your time in here, reading."

"But I-"

"READING, TWILIGHT." Celestia looked outside, "Do you even go out anymore?"

Twilight wilted slightly, "Well… To get supplies?"

Spike piped up from where he was sorting the many books. "Yeah! And I go with her! So does Steam!"

"That doesn't count. Twilight, you need to make friends. Plain and simple, a small trip to a nice town won't hurt."

Steam spoke up. "And what's your ingenious reason for me going there!?"

"Steam, I implore you not to misjudge my actions. In that town, is the most delectable shop for cakes-"

Steam had stopped listening right after she said the word cake, and was actually drooling slightly.

Twilight groaned, "You two and your sweet teeth."

"Oh hush. I've asked the mayor of the town and she has agreed to let you three stay at the Golden Oak Library."

Twilight coughed, "Come again?"

Celestia grinned, "Golden. Oak. Library."

It was now Spike's turn to groan. "And that means… more books... that I have to sort on my own… great..."

After about twenty minutes of dragging Steam's daydreaming form to a hot-air balloon, Twilight and Celestia managed to get him on it and set him down.

Twilight then boarded the balloon, looking at the castle quietly. She didn't want to leave.

Spike suddenly came running up with the bag of her writing supplies and jumped on with them, making sure to put it down by Steam.

Twilight then looked to Celestia. "Do we have to leave Canterlot?"

Celestia nodded. "Twilight. Both you and Steam must have more friends than just each other."

Twilight sighed. "Alright… I'll make sure to keep up with my letters and studies!"

Celestia smiled and nodded. "I would imagine so."

The Princess untied the rope with her magic, letting the balloon slowly take to the sky.

"I will be seeing you tomorrow, so do not worry."

Twilight smiled and gave a wave. "See you tomorrow, Princess!"

Celestia smiled back and gave a nod of farewell. "Goodbye, Twilight, Steam. Good luck making friends in Ponyville."

Steam, of course, didn't respond since he was still in his 'Cake dream mode'.

The flight to their destination was filled with fascinating sights and bewildering sounds. On occasion, and when the alive passengers had the stomachs to, they would peer down and catch glimpses of farm land. Not to mention the creepy forest in the distance.

And as the minutes passed by, Ponyville slowly grew closer and closer.

* * *

Steam finally snapped out of his daydreams when the hot-air balloon landed gently on the outskirts of Ponyville, and he immediately stood.

"Where are we!?" He asked quickly, his mind unsure of what or where he was.

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Steam. We're in Ponyville."

Her gaze then moved to Spike, who has fallen asleep on a pillow of his. She gently shook him awake and put his waking form on her back.

He reached for the bag of supplies and picked it up, pulling out Twilight's checklist.

Steam looked around. "This place hurts my eyes." He murmured, somewhat glaring at all the crazily placed bright colors.

Twilight rolled her eyes and trotted off.

"I honestly don't see why we need to make friends… there's no point!"

Steam stuck out his arms, "Oh, thanks Twi. Geez."

Spike spoke up, "Maybe the ponies in Ponyville have interesting things to talk about. Come on, Twilight, just try!"

Suddenly, a pink pony bounced up near to them, humming a little tune all to herself.

Twilight gave a sigh and did as Spike suggested. "Um.. hello?"

The pony held Twilight's gaze for a momes time,seemingly realizing something after one of them blinked. Said pony gasped, her body raising off the ground about three whole feet before shooting off and leaving a cloud of dust, shaped like herself, in her wake.

Steam blinked once at this, but said nothing.

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Well, that was interesting all right!" She said sarcastically.

Spike sighed and simply looked over the checklist again.

"Anyways… Summer Sun Celebration official overseer's checklist. Number one, banquet preparations: Sweet Apple Acres."

Twilight nodded and began heading that way, as did Steam.

It wasn't hard to miss either. It being a farm the size of one of Canterlot's more fine houses. However, and being obvious enough, being a farm, it was questionable as to what kind of products the place had in store.

When they arrived, they saw an orange pony with a blonde ponytail, on both her mane and tail, ironically enough.

Twilight went to canter over to her, before the orange pony began staring at Steam with an odd look, slowly backing away.

"Ah don't mean tah alarm ya.. but there's a shaved minotaur 'hind ya." She whispered to Twilight.

Steam heard this and his eye twitched just a little. It was hardly noticeable, especially since he rarely showed emotion in circumstances such as these.

Twilight shook her head. "That's not what he is. He's a.. umm… a uhh…" She said slowly as she finally realized something. She had no clue as to what he actually was.

Steam walked over, prompting Applejack to take a more defensive position.

"I'm not gonna attack you or anypony unless I'm attacked first." He said simply to her, looking her right in the eyes.

Applejack frowned softly and nodded. She could see the truth in that, and had no reason to doubt him.

"Alraht.. So what brings the both of ya to mah family's farm?"

Twilight suddenly smiled a bit. "We're here to make sure the preparations for the banquet are prepared!"

Applejack grinned and pulled them off to the barn, seemingly unhindered by them trying to pull away. Within moments, she had pulled them to a large table, rang a bell, and called out,

"Soup's on everypony!"

As if on cue, a large swarm of ponies stampeded into the room and began placing various things on the table.

Steam, Twilight, and Spike sat motionless as food was suddenly piled up in front of them. Steam, after making sure there was to be no more appetizers, nor anything else placed before, picked up an apple fritter at Applejack's request and took a small bite.

Twilight did the same, and their reactions were similar. Their eyes lit up at the taste and they smiled. Steam immediately began eating various other things at a rapid rate, while Twilight began trying to avoid the situation.

Applejack grinned to them. "Why dontcha meet the family?"

With that question, she immediately began introducing everypony.

Steam zoned out after the first three and simply resumed eating, while Twilight kept trying to get Applejack's attention.

"Uh.. app-.. Appl-.. Hey, a-..." She tried saying, getting cut off each time.

When Applejack finally finished, Twilight spoke up.

"Thank you for the food, but we had best be going. We have a lot of things to do today for preparation."

Applebloom pouted. "Aren't yah gonna stay for a bit longer?"

Twilight frowned softly. "We really need to go." She said as she got up and levitated Steam away from the food. "Sorry."

Applejack only smiled. "It's alright. Be sure tah come back if'n ya ever get hungry."

Twilight gave an awkward smile and nod, then hurried off.

Spike chuckled when they were a good distance from the barn. "I think the food is taken care of."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Yeah.. Let's hope we have food tomorrow.."

With that comment, she looked to Steam who was rather content with himself after eating all that food. She sighed softly and dropped him on the ground.

With a startled gasp, Steam shot to his feet and followed after Twilight.

"So, Applejack is making the food?"

She nodded, "Yep. But I know... Ugh... I ate too much pie…"

Steam rubbed his hands together, "I didn't quite have my fill… Might stop by her place again."

Twilight rolled her eyes, "I can tell you and Applejack will be fast friends…"

Spike chuckled, "Fast food friends."

After the pun had been said, silence ensued, the trio worked their way into the square of Ponyville,

"So… Who do we have to see next?"

Spike scratched his chin, lifting the scroll to view the writing inscribed upon it,

"Well, there's supposed to be a Pegasus pony named Rainbow Dash, says she clears the clouds over here."

Twilight harrumphed, "Well, she's not doing a very good job, is she?

Steam was about to respond, when a cyan streak suddenly slammed into Twilight, and somehow himself, throwing all three of them into a puddle.

Luckily for Spike, he'd gotten of the Twilight's back about five minutes ago.

Twilight groaned in pain, shaking off and away the stars that had somehow started circling her head. Maybe it wasn't stars, but it wasn't up for debate at the moment.

Steam's eye twitched a little. "What.. the.. buck..?"

As if on cue, the entanglement of three was released as the cyan pegasus popped from the middle. She let out a sheepish laugh, "I feel as though I should've said, 'scuse me?"

Steam glared at her. "You should've been watching where you were going, idiot "

Rainbow smirked, "Hard to do when you're going as fast as I was."

The, third, party said her piece in that of a groan, gaining the attention of Steam and the pegasus. The latter grimaced and let out another laugh,

"Ah geez… Here, lemme help you."

Said pegasus shot up into the clouds, her plan being the intention of using one of the lazier nimbus clouds to wash away the muck that had been caused via crash. But it didn't go as she had thought.

The pegasus hopped on the cloud and gave it a shake, as a natural result of collected moisture and being there in the sky, said cloud let loose a downpour, soaking both Steam and Twilight in the process.

"Oops, I guess I overdid it. Um, uh, how about this?" The cyan pony flared her wings, and with the same appendages, circled both pony and… Other pony, rapidly.

She stopped after a thorough gust of wind shattered the natural form of Twilight's mane and Steam's hair, "My very own patented Rain-Blow Dry! No no. Don't thank me. You're quite welcome."

Steam's face showed more anger than he wanted to let on as he held himself back. He fixed his hair back to it normal look, as best as he could, and nudged Twilight to get her to speak so he didn't have to.

Oh but Spike found it hilarious, as per his squeals of laughter could be heard from canterlot itself.

"Let me guess. You're Rainbow Dash." Said the ever incorrigible unicorn.

Rainbow Dash simply lifted her chin, "The one and only. Why, you heard of me?"

Twilight massaged her jaw and snorted, looking at Steam, "Yeah, I heard you were supposed to be keeping the sky clear." With a sigh, she stood and forced herself to smile,

"I'm Twilight Sparkle. The little scaly menace over there is Spike."

Steam spoke up after a moment, "And I'm Steam." He muttered.

Rainbow looked over at Steam, actually taking note of the odd being in front of her.

"And what are you?"

Twilight deadpanned, "Not what, Rainbow, who. He and I were sent by the Princess to check on the weather. Y'know, so it doesn't look like this tomorrow?"

Rainbow waved a free hoof, "Yeah, yeah, that'll be a snap. I'll do it in a jiffy. Just as soon as I'm done practicing."

Twilight and Steam both argued irritably, "Practicing for what?"

Rainbow said as though it were obvious, "The Wonderbolts! They're gonna perform at the Celebration tomorrow, and I'm gonna show 'em my stuff!"

Steam snickered, "The Wonderbolts?"

"Yep!"

Twilight raised an unamused brow, "The most talented flyers in all of Equestria?

Rainbow nodded, "That's them!"

Steam just barely managed to speak through his laughter, "Please! They'd never accept a Pegasus who can't even keep the sky clear for one measly day. Heck, I've raced one of them before."

Rainbow Dash gasped aloud, "You?! Wha- Hey, I could clear this sky in ten seconds flat!"

Steam smirked. "Prove it."

Rainbow motioned the, 'roll of the sleeves', and sped past Twilight and Steam, knocking Spike flat in the process,

"Loop-de-loop around, and wham! What'd I say?" With the motions spoken in her assault upon the innocent clouds, Rainbow Dash had quite literally wiped the skies clear,

"Ten. Seconds. Flat. I'd never leave Ponyville hanging. " Twilight had her mouth wide with shock, which in turn caused Dash to chuckle,

"You should see the look on your face." When Steam held the same expression, Rainbow slapped her fetlock, "Ha! You're both a laugh, Twilight Sparkle… And, Steam, Right? Can't wait to hang out some more."

Steam regarded her with a slightly annoyed look, the tension in the air easing away as the cyan pegasus flew away.

"Wow, she's amazing!" Spike said, wiping a tear away.

Twilight gave him a somewhat cold look as she began to head off, Steam moving to follow her silently.

Spike's eyes widened a little and he ran after them. "Wait! It's kinda pretty once you get used to it!"

After a good fifteen or so minute walk, they arrived at the Boutique that housed the decorator for tomorrow's event.

Twilight and Steam walked in quietly, seeing as it was practically a store and looked about the place.

The inside reminded Steam of home. Mostly because of the white walls and such.

Spike, unbeknownst to Twilight and Steam, had gained hearts for pupils and was staring at the pony who worked here.

"Decorations.. Beautiful…" He said in a bit of a daze.

Steam nodded slightly. "Yeah. She knows how to decorate obviously."

Twilight smiled at this.

"Yep. Décor is coming along nicely. This should be a quick." She said happily,

"I'll be at the library in no time."

Steam rolled his eyes lightly at this comment.

Spike spoke up again. "Not the decor, her!"

With that, he pointed to the white pony who had a light cornflower blue magic aura about her horn and very well kept and styled indigo colored mane and tail. Her eyes were a moderate Azure.

She was talking to herself as she worked on another dress, completely oblivious to the group of three that had entered her shop.

"No, no, no, oh! Goodness no."

Spike suddenly began pulling outwards on his spines. "Are my spines straight?" He asked Steam, who in turn sighed and nodded.

"Yes."

Twilight spoke up. "Um. Good afternoo-"

Rarity cut her off with a distracted wave of her leg.

"Just a moment, please! I'm in the zone, as it were."

She took a glitter-like substance and carefully applied it to the dress.

"Oh, yes! Sparkle always does the trick, does it not? Why, Rarity, you are and talent." She said to herself as she began to turn to the three guests. "Now, um, how can I help yo-"

She cut her own sentence off with a yelp as she jumped into the air, seemingly startled.

"Oh my stars, darling! Whatever happened to your coiffure?!"

Twilight blinked, then realized what had been said. "Oh, you mean my mane? Well, it's a long story. I'm just here to check on the decorations, and then I'll be out of your hair!" She said with a small smile.

Rarity gained a determined face. "Out of my hair? What about your hair?! And oh my.."

That was when she realized Steam, but she didn't let the discovery halt her long as she grabbed them both and began dragging them to the back.

Twilight gasped and tried to escape.

"Wait! Where are we going?! Help!"

Steam only sighed and walked along with Rarity.

Shortly after, Twilight was on a pedestal and having dresses placed in front of her. Rarity would bring a dress upwards, and then put off to the side, doing her best to decide,

"No, no, uh-uh. Too green. Too yellow. Too poofy. Not poofy enough. Too frilly.."

Then she pulled out a dress that made every being in the room squint.

"Too.. shiny." She murmured as she put it away. "Now, go on, my dear. You were telling me where you're from."

Twilight now had on a dress that was way, way too tight for her liking, making her wince.

"I've… been sent… from Canterlot.. too-"

Rarity dropped everything that she'd had in her magic grasp with a gasp.

"Canterlot?! Oh, I am so envious! The glamour, the sophistication! I have always dreamed of living there! I can't wait to hear all about it! We are gonna be the best of friends, you and I…"

She turned to Steam. "Wait.. that means.."

She gasped loudly and her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. Seriously.

"You're the Princess' child! The prince…" She trailed off as she swayed a little, moving a couch behind her to fall on as she fainted momentarily.

After a few moments, she shook her head and stood up. "I'm in.. the pres- Oh dear! I'm so sorry for dragging you back here against your will!" She said as she began combing his hair into a fashion similar to how he normally had it.

Steam sighed. "Don't worry about it, and please never refer to me as the prince.. I prefer to not go by that title."

Rarity tilted her head. "Why would that be, darling?"

Steam fell silent for a long moment, then spoke.

"I'm no prince." He said as he began walking off. He didn't want to have this conversation.

Rarity frowned and turned to Twilight. "Did I touch on a bad subject?"

Twilight sighed, having managed to climb out of the dress. "Sadly, yes. He doesn't want the title. He never elaborated why to me, but he's told Celestia."

Rarity nodded and looked in the direction Steam had left. "Please tell him I didn't mean anything by that."

Rarity fixed Twilight's mane and gave a wave. "If either of you need me to, I can make you more clothes. I'll have to be with Steam to get an idea of how to make his clothes though."

Twilight nodded and picked Spike up. "I'll let him know. Bye." She said as she waved.

Rarity gave a wave back and watched as Twilight left, then shivered softly.

"She was.. exquisite."

Spike sighed softly.

"Wasn't she wonderful?"

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Focus, Casanova. What's next on the list?"

Spike cleared his throat and pulled out the list. "Oh, uh, music! It's the last one!"

Steam blinked once, wondering what kind of music it would be. Could be classical, but then again, that's too classy. There's always that newer form of music he'd heard about to… Wubstep or a not.

But Steam snapped to reality when he and the group all heard a distant sound of birdsong fanfare.

Twilight and Steam began walking in that direction quickly. Steam mostly did so because of Twilight, as he usually would have went a bit slower to take in the sights of the wilderness around them.

They soon came up on a cream colored pegasus who was directing a choir of birds.

"Oh my. Um, stop please, everyone, umm. Excuse me, sir? I mean no offense, but your rhythm is just a teeny-tiny bit off. Now, follow me, please. A-one, a-two, a-one two three-"

Twilight spoke up. "Hello!"

The pegasus gasped out loudly and jumped up into the tree, knocking a few leaves out of it in the process. The birds that she had been directing had flew off.

Steam hit his hand against the tree and knocked the pegasus out it, where he caught her and set her on the ground gently.

Twilight grimaced softly. "Oh my, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to frighten your birds. I'm just here to check up on the music and it's sounding beautiful."

After a short pause, she spoke once again.

"I'm Twilight Sparkle…" She paused, "What's your name?"

The first time the pegasus spoke, it was barely audible.

"Um.. I'm Fluttershy.."

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

Fluttershy spoke even quieter. "Um… My name is Fluttershy."

Twilight resisted the urge to sigh. "Didn't quite catch that."

Fluttershy squeaked a little.

During this conversation, the birds had flown back to the tree and were tweeting amongst themselves as they waited.

Twilight paused again. "Well, um, it looks like your birds are back, so I guess everything's in order. Keep up the good work!"

Fluttershy squeaked once in response.

Twilight turned her head to look at Spike.

"Well, that was easy." Cue the click of a button.

Fluttershy gasped and flew over, accidentally bumping into Twilight as she hovered in front of Spike.

"A baby dragon," She exclaimed, her face showing excitement. "Oh, I've never seen a baby dragon before. He's sooo cute!"

Spike grinned a bit. "Well, well, well…!"

Fluttershy seemed very interested in Spike now.

"Oh my, he talks. I didn't know dragons could talk. That's just so incredibly wonderful I, I just don't even know what to say!"

Twilight internally groaned. "Well, in that case, we'd better be going.

"Wait, wait! What's his name?"

Spike spoke up. "I'm Spike."

Now, luckily for all of you reading this, you don't have to hear all of Spike's life story. You get to see something interesting here.

Steam began to walk back towards Ponyville when Fluttershy noticed him.

"Woah… I've never seen a species like that.." She said as she slowly flew in front of him, looking over him in awe.

"I don't mean to be rude, but what are you?" She asked softly.

Steam frowned. He hated this question for two reasons. One, it was used to make fun of him on a nearly daily basis. And two, he couldn't answer it. At least she was nice about it.

"I honestly don't know. All I know is that I'm the only one."

Fluttershy nodded. "Well.. I wanna know more about you and how you work."

Steam actually smiled, "I'd be happy to tell you some." He said as he began walking towards the library. He told her what he knew of himself, leaving out extremely private or personal details.

And Fluttershy listened intently to every word he said, seemingly in awe of what she heard.

Steam wrapped up his details as the giant treehouse library came into view.

Fluttershy made a small sound of awe when he finished, her eyes sparkling with curiosity. "Wow… is there anything else?"

Steam's eyes widened and he teleported away immediately, not wanting to speak any more.

Fluttershy blinked once and turned to Twilight, but she'd already rushed inside with Spike and slammed the door shut.

"Oh.." She said softly.

Spike huffed a bit. "Rude much?"

Twilight sighed. "Sorry, Spike, but I have to convince the Princess that Nightmare Moon is coming, and we're running out of time!"

She groaned in frustration and continued, " I just need to be alone so I can study without a bunch of crazy ponies trying to make friends all the time. Now, where's the light?"

She found the light switch and flipped it. What happened next scared her and Spike half to death.

A ton of ponies from the town were standing there and yelled surprise.

Then a kazoo sounded out.

The pink pony jumped up, flailing her legs and yelling, "SURPRISE!"

She blew a party whistle and grinned. "Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie, and I threw this party just for you! Were you surprised? Were ya? Huh huh huh?" She asked in a single breath.

Twilight frowned a bit. "Very surprised… Libraries are supposed to be quiet."

Pinkie giggled. "Well, that's silly! What kind of welcome party would this be if it were quiet? I mean, duh, bo-ring! Y'see, I saw you when you first got here, remember? You were all "hello" and I was all 'OHMYGOSH', remember? Y'see I've never saw you before and if I've never saw you before that means you're new, 'cause I know everypony, and I mean everypony in Ponyville!"

Twilight groaned in annoyance.

Pinkie continued, "And if you're new, that meant you haven't met anyone yet, and if you haven't met anyone yet, you must not have any friends, and if you don't have any friends then you must be lonely, and that made me so sad, then I had an idea, and that's why I went 'OHMYGOSH'! I must throw a great big ginormous super-duper spectacular welcome party and invite everyone in Ponyville! See? And now you have lots and lots of friends!

Suddenly, the door opened and Steam walked in, his eyes widening at the ponies in the room.

"Are these ponies here to check out books?"

Twilight looked his way. "Not. At. All."

Steam blinked once and shrugged, then looked over the party. "Huh. Seems like more fun than the Grand Galloping Gala."

Pinkie grinned to him and waved. "Hiya!"

Steam looked to Pinkie. "Umm… hi?"

Pinkie responded with a short burst of speed, tearing both Steam and Twilight away from their spots,

"You two stay here while I get the games set up!"

Steam waved his hands around, trying to grasp what had just occurred,

"Uh… Tw- Twi? Use your fancy Logic on this, please?"

Twilight held her forehead, "I need a break…"

So naturally, when in doubt, Twilight thought best to grab a drink from the table. The punch bowl was lined to the brim with a concoction of drinks, next to such, were the cups filled with said punch.

As Twilight grabbed for the nearest drink, Pinkie trotted out from the crowd,

"Alrighty! The games are set up, now we ju- DRINK HOT SAUCE?"

Twilight grew rigid as she swallowed the substance. With jerky motions, she fumbled the cup and found out quickly that she had drank a whole cup of, Liquid Sauce. Humorously enough, it was made by the Apple Family.

Applejack frowned at Twilight's red face and the tears slipping out of her eyes. "Are ya all right, sugarcube?"

At their questioning, Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but rather than words, all that escaped was a train whistle.

Pinkie grinned. "She's so happy that it's making her cry!"

Steam stepped back, knowing that weird things happened when ponies ate spicy foods.

After a long while of trying, and failing, to leave the party, Twilight managed to get herself and Steam out of the party.

She groaned out loud as the door opened, making the previously muffled music become instantaneously louder.

Spike spoke from where he stood in the doorway. "Hey you two! Pinkie's starting 'pin the tail on the pony'! Wanna play?"

Twilight turned to him with an annoyed expression. "No! All the ponies in this town are crazy! Do you know what time it is?!"

Spike shrugged softly. "The eve of the Summer Sun Celebration. Everypony has to stay up, or they'll miss the Princess raise the sun!" He said with a smile.

He then continued, "You really should lighten up, Twilight. It's a party!"

Twilight made a mocking face, "You really should lighten up, Twilight. It's a party." She muttered to herself as she turned away.

Spike sighed and closed the door, quieting the music in this room for now.

Twilight sighed a bit, "Ugh, here I thought I'd have time to learn about the Elements of Harmony but, silly me, all this ridiculous friend-making has kept me from it! Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about everlasting night. I hope the Princess was right... I hope it really is just an old pony tale…"

Steam walked over to Twilight and set a hand on her back. "Hey. It'll be alright. You should calm down a little.

She only groaned in response. "But I know I'm right, and when she comes back, she'll bring everlasting night!"

Steam looked out the window. "Everything will be alright eventually.."

Spike suddenly heard voices from outside the room and spoke up. "Twilight, Steam! It's time to watch the sun rise!"

Twilight gulped a little and picked up Spike, then headed off to the town square with Steam.

Upon arriving, they were forced to stand behind a large crowd of ponies, all chattering about as they waited for the ceremony to begin.

Pinkie suddenly appeared by them. "Isn't this exciting? Are you excited, 'cause I'm excited, I've never been so excited- well, except for the time that I saw you walking into town and I went OHMYGOSH but I mean really, who can top that?"

Steam simply raised a brow at her. "I.. wouldn't know."

Twilight sighed softly to herself moments before the fanfare started, signaling the start of the celebration to begin.

A female earth pony with a beige coat, gray and white mane and tail, and glasses stood upon a large wooden platform and behind a podium.

"Fillies and gentlecolts, as mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration!' She said with a smile.

A bunch of the ponies cheered in delight, while Steam stayed silent and watched the scene around them. Something felt… cold… and it set him off into high alert. Twilight frowned softly in worry,watching as the mayor began speaking again.

"In just a few moments, our town will witness the magic of the sunrise, and celebrate this, the longest day of the year! And now, it is my great honor to introduce to you the ruler of our land, the very pony who gives us the sun and the moon each and every day, the good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria…"

Fluttershy said something barely audible to her friends as the mayor finished her sentence,

"...Princess Celestia!"

With that, another short fanfare occurred as two curtains revealed the ceremonial sun circle.

Without Celestia.

Ponies chattered nervously to each other as Steam frowned deeply.

Rarity gasped softly at this. "What is going on…?"

Twilight grimaced a bit. "This can't be good…"

The mayor grew frantic and gulped. "Remain calm, everypony, there must be a reasonable explanation!"

Pinkie gasped. "Ooh, ooh, I love guessing games! Is she hiding?"

Rarity suddenly cried out, "She's gone!"

A bunch of ponies gasped.

Pinkie frowned in thought. "Ooh… she's good…" She then yelped as a shadow-cloaked figure appeared on a balcony. Said figure bared her fangs, and flared her wings, alerting most of the crowd to either scream or flinch in terror.

The figure had formed into a night blue alicorn, setting alarms off in Twilight's mind. And it took all of her will not to gasp her name. Nightmare Moon.

But her surprise only grew more as Nightmare Moon spoke,

"Oh, my beloved subjects. It's been so long since I've seen your precious, little sun-loving faces."

Rainbow Dash reared up, though Applejack held her back,

"What did you do with our Princess?!" She barked out.

Nightmare Moon chuckled, "Why, am I not royal enough for you? Don't you know who I am?"

Pinkie gasped yet again. "Ooh, ooh, more guessing games! Um, Hokey Smokes! How about... Queen Meanie! No! Black Snooty, Black Snooty…"

"Does my crown no longer count now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years? Did you not recall the legend? Did you not see the signs?"

Twilight stepped forward. "I did. And I know who you are. You're the Mare in the Moon, Nightmare Moon!"

Nightmare Moon smirked. "Well well well, somepony who remembers me. Then you must also know why I'm here."

Twilight bit her lip. "You're here to… to…" She trailed off with a gulp.

The night blue alicorn cackled, "Remember this day, little ponies, for it was your last. From this moment forth, the night will last forever!" She laughed as thunder boomed outside.

Mayor Mare gritted her teeth. "Seize her! Only she knows where the Princess is!"

Nightmare Moon cast a simple spell that pushed the guards who attempted to capture her.

Many ponies screamed and fled from the building.

Steam practically tossed himself forwards and caught some debris that would have crushed a pony that was running, and tossed it at Nightmare.

By then, she'd already disappeared from the spot.

Twilight bolted out the door quickly, rushing for her treehouse library

Rainbow noticed her leave and rushed after her, followed closely by Applejack, then Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie.

Rainbow frowned as she flew, her voice carrying across the wind, "Come back here!" She panted after stopping, then continued, "Nighttime? Forever? Where's she going?"

Twilight quickly set Spike down when they were in the library and began searching for a book.

Spike stumbled around. "Uh… We gotta stop Nightmare!..." He mumbled out.

Twilight sighed in annoyance and levitated him to his bed. "You've been up all night, Spike. You are a baby dragon after all. Elements, elements, elements... Ugh! How can I stop Nightmare Moon without the Elements of Harmony?"

Rainbow and the others had arrived by now, it being obvious from the sound of the door thrown open. The five scattered, searching for one of the two residents in the tree. Unluckily, Rainbow Dash had heard what Twilight spoke of, seizing the moment upon seeing her scramble around books in a mad dash,

"HEY! Just what are the Elements of Harmony? And how did you know about Nightmare Moon, huh? Are you a spy? Whoa!"

Applejack had pulled Rainbow Dash back, again. "Simmer down, Sally. She ain't no spy. But she sure knows what's going on. Don't you, Twilight?"

Twilight groaned, "Look, all you need to know is that I may have read all about the prediction of Nightmare Moon. Some mysterious objects called the Elements of Harmony are the only things that can stop her, but I don't know what they are, where to find them; I don't even know what they do!'

Pinkie Pie bounced over to her. "The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide."

Twilight looked at her in shock. "How did you find that?!

Pinkie smiled and said in a sing-song voice, "It was under 'E'!"

Twilight looked at the book for a short second. "Oh." After coming to her senses, she then flipped through the book until she found the page that had what she was looking for.

"Alright… There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known: Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty and Loyalty. The sixth is a complete mystery. It is said,"

Twilight squinted, "That the last known location of the five elements was in the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters. It is located in what is now…"

All the ponies gasped, "The Everfree Forest!"

Pinkie grinned and jumped into the air. "Whee! Let's go!" Twilight's magic surrounded her and pulled her to the ground.

"Not so fast. Look, I appreciate the offer, but I'd really rather do this on my own."

Applejack shook her head. "No can do, sugarcube. We sure ain't lettin' any friend of ours go into that creepy place alone. We're stickin' to you like caramel on a candy apple."

Everypony nodded and made a noise in agreement.

PInkie's tongue stuck out for a moment. "Especially if there's candy apples in there." As everypony looked at her with various looks, she spoke again, "What? Those things are good."

Twilight sighed and set out with them. But as she stepped hoof out onto the streets, her mind flashed back to the last point of where she had seen Steam. Her eyes darted about in a flurry, and she nearly called out for her friend.

Though, fate had different plans. Steam actually being the one to call for Twilight,

"YO TWI! EVERFREE FOREST? KAY, THANKS."

The one she had forgotten about was the one to place himself in front of the group. Twilight stood there watching as Steam saluted from the distance, sprinting headlong into the forest.

"Your friend's stupid."

Twilight blinked, "No, not stupid… Just _really_ , really, impatient. And reckless."

* * *

 _ **Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Sorry for uploads just now kinda getting on track. Still working on lots of other stuff.**_

 _ **Now, all I can really say here is review and all that goodness.**_

 _ **Uhh.. I guess that's all for now, other than the thanks to Mr Derpface once more for the help with this chapter and the story thus far.**_

 _ **Also, this will be one of the last times I follow an episode this closely.. it's just too much of a hassle.**_

 _ **Well, have a good night, day, afternoon.. whatever time it is when you read this.**_

 _ **BYE!**_


	5. Random Filler for ya

_Hey, guys. Here's a little filler. Sorry I'm not around. I barely have free time anymore and school gets in the way. Anyways, hope you enjoy!_

* * *

"Steam… please just eat..." the tired voice of Celestia echoed through the food-stained room.

He babbled randomly and picked up the food his mother had given him. Then, he threw it. Right out the window.

The usually calm and composed Princess of Equestria groaned out loudly. "Why are you doing this…? You're hungry..."

Steam continued babbling. Right now, he was only two years old. So, being the young child he was, he liked to cause problems for anyone taking care of him.

A giggle was heard and Celestia turned and watched as Cadence trotted in. "Having trouble, auntie?"

Celestia could only give a nod as she plopped onto her bed. "Please get him to eat..."

Cadence nodded and picked Steam up in her magic, careful to not let him too close lest another incident happen where he furiously yanks on her mane. She then went off to the kitchen and collected a few things to feed the baby.

Celestia had to drag herself into the kitchen to watch as Cadence finished preparing the food and began feeding him. She could only groan and simply resign back to her now filthy room. _He'll always be like this… won't he?_

* * *

"Yo, Twilight! Where are you?"

A faint voice responded, and a six year old Steam rushed for the source of the sound. He brushed past various ponies and even jumped over a few that he couldn't avoid.

"Steam! Help!" Twilight cried out, causing Steam to run even faster than he had been.

"I'm coming! Hold on!" He jumped clear over three ponies at once and rolled under another, standing up right next to Twilight and throwing himself between her and two other ponies. "Leave her alone!"

"Hmph. Get out of the way, freak." Dazzling Shire, a well known bully in these parts, spoke snootily.

"Yeah. Get moving if you know what's good for you." A much bigger, male pony spoke. Steam didn't know his name, but he knew they were about his age. Even with the size difference, he wasn't worried.

"Yeah? Well, see what happens when you try and touch my friend!" Before either pony could react, Steam had already sent Dazzling reeling with a strong roundhouse kick, before following up with a quick punch to block a jab from the large male. He smirked, and the pony fell back a bit. Steam then sent him into a wall with one well placed kick to the temple.

By this point, a few ponies had rushed to the aid of the now injured ponies. Steam quickly picked up his lavender friend and ran off for the castle, skirting around the crowd.

"Thank you, Steam."

"No problem!"

* * *

It was in the middle of class, during an important test. Where was Steam?

He was in his seat, leaning back, and relaxing happily with his arms over his eyes.

Twilight sighed, shaking her head softly in disappointment. She continued on with her test, quickly and easily finishing with time to spare. She went ahead and turned in her test, then went to her seat and began reading a book.

Around 20 minutes later, the teacher called out, "Time's up! Please put your quills down and turn in your test. Twilight, wake Steam up for me."

Twilight gave a giggle and gently shook Steam, prompting him to move his arms and sit up, blinking his eyes open.

He stood without a word and turned in his test, being the last to do so. He returned to his seat and awaited the teacher to call out their grades.

She finished in good time and blinked once when she looked over the grades. "Well, this is unexpected. Blossom had the third highest at a ninety-five, Twilight had the second at a ninety-eight… and Steam had the highest with a perfect score. Great job to you three."

All eyes shifted to the odd one out in the room, who only offered a smirk in response, then stood. "Time's up."

Suddenly, the bell to signal the end of the school day rang and a large portion of the young ponies left quickly, grabbing their things as they went.

Twilight sat, flabbergasted by the fact that, first, she didn't have the highest score, and second, that Steam made a higher score than she.

He chuckled softly and began collecting Twilight's stuff for her. "Come on. I don't need to be late again for Shining's training."

* * *

"I'm very sorry, but I have no clue where all the frosting went." The lead baker, Candy Dough, said quickly and apologetically.

Celestia only gave a sigh. "I have a hint as to where. I will be back in a few moments." She went off to her first and only suspect's room. She opened the door and trotted in. Right now, he was off with Cadence, so she had no fear of bumping into him as she went over to where he stashed his secrets. It's not much of a secret when you shove three padlocks onto a cabinet that doesn't even close the right way to lock it. She opened the door and found various tubs of emptied frosting, multiple flavors having been devoured by the young child. "Of course."

* * *

"Twilight! Look at this!" Steam said with a grin.

"Why do I immediately have bad feelings every time you say that sentence?" Twilight questioned herself, putting a barrier around herself with her magic.

Steam snapped his fingers, but nothing happened. "What the..." He snapped them a few more times before a loud scream was heard. "Buck."

Twilight had no time to reprimand him for his choice of language as he shot out of the room, blasting down the hall without much hesitation.

The next thing she saw was a truly hilarious sight. Prince Blueblood running down the hall with his 'precious mane' almost completely singed off.

"Steam..." Twilight sighed softly, getting up and going off to get Celestia. Again.


	6. Meeting of the Ages

Everfree was an interesting setting, if you liked the inclusion of bugs, freaky looking trees and the occasional howl of something unidentifiable. But it was well worth the adventure.

Steam set off into this wretched placed after overhearing where the major plot was going down. But where the wrench had been tossed in, was where on Equestria the palace was. Seriously, it was a palace. How could one miss it?

If it was one other thing Everfree had really gotten down, was turning unwary travellers around. Not that Steam was unwary, just hadn't looked where he leapt was all.

The paths were littered with crossroads, and forks in the roads as well. (Quite literally too, there was a fork in the road, but it's gone now) So every time Steam thought he had been going in the right direction, the path he'd chosen would circle him right back around.

Things got hectic after he had seen the same tree three times. Noticeably too, there was the slight feeling of being watched. Either it be animals, or an actual pony.

Steam frowned softly at this, though it didn't show much due to how he usually was. Ignoring the feeling for now, he picked up a few rocks and placed them on the paths he'd already followed.

With this done, he traveled down the lone path that didn't have a rock on it, glancing about warily.

Already being dark and creepy, it had seemed to be appropriate that Everfree throw in the sounds of distant laughter. Steam slowly turned around, trying to determine where the sound had been coming from. When he was met with no success, Steam quickened his pace.

He cleared the path in no time at all, coming to a clearing he hadn't seen before. It was there, Steam collected his thoughts on how he would make it past the next obstacle. That being a river too fast to across, and to wide to jump.

But that's where magic comes into play. See, although he couldn't jump across it, who said he couldn't, Teleport across? So that's what was done.

The moment he landed, he hurried along down the path again, watching his surroundings more closely than he had before.

As he went down the path, he became aware of glowing green.. lights.. watching him from the treeline.

Steam frowned softly as he hurried along, all until he reached a giant rope bridge. He slowed his pace and stopped at the beginning of the bridge.

Upon hearing awful sounding wooden cracks nearby, he spun around and his eyes went wide when he saw a small pack of Timberwolves surrounding him.

Leaning down enough to pick up another stray rock that was about the size of his fist, he backed slowly onto the bridge. "This is bad…"

One of the wolves made a god awful barking noise and growled. This barking sound being the one Steam reacted to, taking off down the rope bridge.

A few of the Timberwolves followed him onto the bridge, chasing him down. Upon reaching the end of the bridge, Steam spun and slammed the rock against one of the old ropes, severing it and causing one side ofthe bridge to fall downwards. The wolves managed to hold on and began to head back to their pack until Steam cut the other rope and dropped them into the giant chasm.

"Good… Celestia…" Steam gapsed out as he watched the green lights disappear, "Probably should've yelled Timber… but then again…"

Dusting himself off, Steam sniffed and turned his head slowly, still trying to catch up with his lost adrenaline. Maybe things were starting to go his way? Maybe not. One thing was for sure, at least he could see the thing he came here for. For what is was worth… He was expecting more, but when you have years upon years built into rotting, the Timberwolves probably marking their territory, and the occasional misconception of the exterminator not coming by,

Yeah, the palace looked like utter crap.

Stepping over a log, Steam grimaced as he looked upon what used to be the epitome of the Two sisters vast kingdom. What was left of it, showed in forms of the Everfree itself. And Steam wanted no part of what was supposedly inside.

But then again, it was either this, or the damnable Timberwolves stalking across the bridge.

So Steam chose the obvious, and rubbed his hands together, beginning the journey into the place by opening the only still standing door.

Well he tried opening it. The door collapsed in on itself, collecting dust up into the air and causing the poor, innocent bystander to have a coughing fit.

Once Steam recovered from the coughing, he waved his hand and cleared the dust from this spot and walked inside silently, his eyes scanning the scenery.

Well… what was left of it.

Many of the walls were cracked heavily, and it was near impossible to find a banner that hadn't been absolutely ruined by the tests of time.

He sighed softly and returned his attention forward as he walked. He heard the distant sound of metal against stone and stopped, listening to where the source was. Upon determining that it came from his right, he hurried down that hallway and looked around more.

He went silent when he heard a voice beyond a large, closed door and pressed his ear against it to hear the voice more clearly.

"If another being like you arrives, do not hesitate to eliminate him." The voice that was most definitely Nightmare Moon said.

Another voice rang out, soft, but dangerous.

"Do not worry. I won't fail you."

"I will see you to that."

Steam frowned softly as he listened, all until the door suddenly creaked, the hinges snapping off and causing the door to fall to the ground with a loud boom.

Steam could feel the cold glares of the two females who'd been in the room the entire time and sighed softly. "Of course…"

He looked up and stood straight, his eyes widening at the sight before him.

There was, in fact, two females there. One of them being Nightmare Moon…

And the other being a female variant of Steam's kind.

She had long, jet black hair that flowed past her shoulders. Her eyes were a piercing ice blue, and her face showed no emotion whatsoever. Her height was similar, but she was a few inches shorter than Steam.

She practically glared at him until the realization hit her that he was much like her, and her face gained a somewhat softer look.

Steam and the girl stared at each other for the longest time, truly confused by the existence of the other.

"W-wait… who are you?" Steam asked very slowly.

In response to this, her eyes narrowed and she glared at him. "I am Armaris. Now, who are you?"

"I'm Steam…"

After this, the staring resumed for a long moment before Nightmare Moon spoke up once more.

"KILL HIM!" She demanded immediately.

Snapping out of the near trance-like state she had been in, Armaris wasted no time in attacking Steam by waving her hand, sending a gust of wind at him.

Steam was thrown off his feet and sent tumbling multiple feet before he managed to regain his footing and stand again. He growled softly to himself and ran at her, his fists catching fire.

Nightmare Moon watched silently off to the side as the two she helped create began fighting to the death.

Armaris swiftly dodged a strong punch and delivered a knee to his stomach which threw him against a wall. He recovered quickly and threw a fireball at her, which she broke apart with another gust of wind. Though, it had the desired effect. It distracted her just long enough for Steam to be able to get up close and kick her in the side of the neck, then follow with a punch to her stomach which sent her reeling into a wall. She clutched at her stomach and gritted her teeth, looking up to see Steam right about to attack once more, only for Nightmare Moon to suddenly blast him with her magic, sending him flying into the wall of the cliffs around them.

"Enough of this!" Nightmare Moon yelled. "There will be time to kill you, but for now…" She trailed off as she approached him, her horn glowing with her dark magic. Cuffs appeared around his wrists and ankles, holding them together. "Armaris. Go inside and find me the elements of harmony."

Still gritting her teeth, Armaris nodded and stood. She walked inside and wandered the halls for a time. She knew where they were. Nightmare Moon possessed this knowledge from the battle between herself and her sister. Without much hesitation, she found the gigantic tree that housed the elements and promptly broke much of it with two quick and powerful kicks.

Meanwhile, outside the castle, Steam glared at Nightmare Moon with what energy he had left. "I won't let you get away with this…"

Nightmare Moon laughed, maniacally. "Oh? Get away with… what? Taking the elements of harmony? Killing your friends? Sending the world into eternal darkness? Getting revenge on Celestia?"

That last one made Steam growl angrily. Though he harbored anger in his heart towards his adoptive mother, he still loved her. She had been his mother for all these years, and he cared for her. "Bring her back." he growled.

She smirked softly, lifting his chin slowly. "I'll explain this once. I'm just as much your parent as she is. Part of me lives inside part of you. We are both evil."

This only caused Steam to growl all the more. "I will kill you if I have to."

"Good luck without a way to get yourself up."

Spurred into action, Steam let out a furious yell and began pulling the cuffs with all his might.

Biting back a laugh, Nightmare Moon watched him do this. "You're only serving to hurt yourself, you ignorant weakling."

Steam yelled out once more and was overtaken by a pillar of fire. The cuffs on his wrists exploded in a flash of golden yellow light and he quickly yanked his ankle cuffs off. "I said I'd kill you!"

She growled lowly. "Try it. I dare you."

* * *

 ** _Okay. So, I've been gone a while and this has been sitting here for a while longer. Sorry._** ** _I've been so caught up in school and work lately that I've been using my free time to relax, so I'm sorry if anyone is upset. This is short for a reason. I feel like I shouldn't put this all into just one chapter._**

 **Sadly, the partner I had for the first few chapters hasn't been around for a while, so that didn't help much. I do plan on getting this startedone back up, though.**

 ** _Not gonna reveal much, but there will be much drama between Steam and_** ** _Armaris._**

 ** _Anyways, Blazing Winds signing off._**


End file.
